What does "polysorbate" mean?

Any of a class of emulsifiers used as food additives and in pharmaceutical preparations; they are derived from sorbitan (typically with three polyoxyethylene side-chains) esterified with a fatty acid; they are mostly oily liquids, or soft solids.

Polysorbate

Q: What is a synonym for "polysorbate"?

Common synonyms include: e432, e432 - polysorbate 20, e433, e433 - polysorbate 80, e434, e434 - polysorbate 40.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Any of a class of emulsifiers used as food additives and in pharmaceutical preparations; they are derived from sorbitan (typically with three polyoxyethylene side-chains) esterified with a fatty acid; they are mostly oily liquids, or soft solids.

Synonyms

All synonyms

e432 e432 - polysorbate 20 e433 e433 - polysorbate 80 e434 e434 - polysorbate 40

Etymology

From poly- + sorbate.

Related phrases

fatty acid food additive

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.