Other forms: nylons
Nylon is a strong smooth artificial thread. Nylon rope, nylon stockings, a nylon bag.
It was the first fully synthetic fibre, announced in 1938, and stockings made from it sold out on sight before the war took the whole supply for parachutes. The story that the name comes from New York and London is a myth the company itself denies.
1nounnylonA strong smooth artificial fibre.
“Her tent was made of light nylon that dried quickly in the sun.”
nylon is a material.
Coined by DuPont in 1938. The company says the syllables were chosen arbitrarily, with the -on ending borrowed from rayon and cotton.
Coined by the company DuPont in 1938. According to the company, the name was formed from the random generic syllable nyl- + the common fiber suffix -on (as in rayon and Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA