Also -ine. [ad. F. stéarine (Chevreul), f. Gr. στέαρ stiff fat, tallow, suet: see -IN.]
1. Chem. A general name for the three glycerids (monostearin, distearin, tristearin) formed by the combination of stearic acid and glycerine; chiefly applied to tristearin, which is the chief constituent of tallow or suet.
1817. T. Thomson, Syst. Chem. (ed. 5), II. 371. Stearin … was first described by Chevreul in 1814.
1819. Brande, Man. Chem., 374. A dry, concrete, fatty matter is obtained, which Chevreul has called stearine.
1819. J. G. Children, Chem. Anal., 310. Stearin … somewhat resembles wax.
1845. Todd & Bowman, Phys. Anat., I. 43. Stearine exists but sparingly, or not at all, in human fat.
1869. Roscoe, Chem., 386. The Stearic … Ethers of Glycerin, or Stearins … may be prepared artificially by heating glycerin with stearic acid.
Comb. 1873. C. H. Ralfe, Outl. Phys. Chem., 21. Stearic acid unites with glycerine to form stearin glycerin.
2. The solid portion of any fixed oil or fat, in contradistinction to OLEIN 2.
1910. Encycl. Brit., VI. 635/2. By boiling the livers at a somewhat high temperature, ‘unracked’ cod oil is obtained, containing a considerable quantity of ‘stearine,’ this fat, which separates on cooling, is sold as ‘fish-stearine’ for soap-making.
3. (Chiefly spelt stearine.) The commercial name of a preparation consisting of purified fatty acids, used for making candles, and formerly also as a material for statuettes.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 248. In June, 1825, M. Gay Lussac obtained a patent in England for making candles from margaric and stearic acids, improperly called stearine.
1870. Illustr. Lond. News, 1 Oct., 359. Casts in stearine from two busts of Prince Leopold and Princess Amelie.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., II. 74/2. Every one is now familiar with those [candles] made of stearine or stearic acid.
1887. Encycl. Brit., XXII. 527/1. Stearine, in commerce, designates a solid mixture of fatty acids (chiefly palmitic and stearic) which is being produced industrially from animal fats and used largely for the making of candles.
b. attrib.
1848. J. Burnet, Ess. Fine Arts, iv. 130. His pictures possess that peculiar stearine substance found in the works of Watteau.
1844. E. D. Parnell’s Appl. Chem., II. 303. Stearine candles, when properly made, are white and inodorous.
1878. A. H. Markham, Gt. Frozen Sea, xix. 267. A stearine lamp.
