Standard Lemma guide

emulsion

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 M AH1 L SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A stable suspension of small droplets of one liquid in another with which it is immiscible.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Mayonnaise is an emulsion where egg is used to keep oil and water mixed.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A colloid in which both phases are liquid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: physical

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The coating of photosensitive silver halide grains in a thin gelatine layer on a photographic film.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: arts, hobbies, lifestyle, photography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To paint with emulsion paint.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a light-sensitive coating on paper or film; consists of fine grains of silver bromide suspended in a gelatin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: photographic emulsion

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: coating, coat

6

noun

Meaning 6

(chemistry) a colloid in which both phases are liquids

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an oil-in-water emulsion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: colloid

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French émulsion, from New Latin ēmulsiō, ēmulsiōnis, based on Latin ēmulgeō (“to milk out, extract”).

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُسْتَحْلَب (mustaḥlab) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Bulgarian: емулсия (emulsija) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Catalan: emulsió — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Chinese Mandarin: 乳濁液 /乳浊液 (rǔzhuóyè) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Crimean Tatar: emulsiya — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Czech: emulze — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Danish: emulsion — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Dutch: emulsie — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Finnish: emulsio — suspension of one liquid in another
  • French: émulsion — suspension of one liquid in another
  • German: Emulsion — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Greek: γαλάκτωμα (galáktoma) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Hindi: पायस (pāyas) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Icelandic: þeyta — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Indonesian: emulsi — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Irish: eibleacht — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Italian: emulsione — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Malay: emulsi — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Norwegian Bokmål: emulsjon — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: emulsjon — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Polish: emulsja — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Portuguese: emulsão — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Romanian: emulsie — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Russian: эму́льсия (emúlʹsija) — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Spanish: emulsión — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Swedish: emulsion — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Tagalog: lapunaw — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Welsh: emylsiwn — suspension of one liquid in another
  • Hungarian: emulzió — coating of photosensitive layer on a photographic film
  • Icelandic: ljósnæmislag — coating of photosensitive layer on a photographic film