▪ I. resin
obs. f. raisin; var. reason n.2
▪ II. resin, n.
(ˈrɛzɪn)
Forms: 4 recyn(e, reysen, 4–6 resyn, 6–8 resine, 8– resin (9 rezin).
[ad. F. résine, ad. L. rēsīna (Sp., Pg., and It. resina), cogn. with Gr. ῥητίνη. See also rosin.]
1. a. A vegetable product, formed by secretion in special canals in almost all trees and plants, from many of which (as the fir and pine) it exudes naturally, or can be readily obtained by incision; various kinds are extensively used in making varnishes or adhesive compositions, and in pharmacy. (Cf. gum-resin and oleo-resin.)
| 1388 Wyclif Jer. viii. 22 Whether resyn is not in Galaad? Ibid. li. 8 Take ȝe recyn to the sorewe therof. c 1450 M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 225 Do þer to pouder recles, of resyn, & a party of virgyne wex, & boile hyt wel. 1538 Leland Itin. (1769) V. 91 The Wood of them in Burning savorith of Resine. 1744 Berkeley Siris §18 A good pine might be made to yield resin every year. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 27 Here we find in appropriate vessels the resin of the Fir and Juniper. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 30 In many of the more dense woods, we..find an abundance of gum or resin. 1876 Harley Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 409 Resin possesses the valuable quality of adhesiveness, and it is also slightly stimulant. |
b. With
a and
pl. A particular kind of resin.
| 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 366 Benzoic acid has been hitherto found in no other vegetable substance, except resins and balsams. 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 349 The aromatic portion of ginger is a resin, which constitutes about one tenth of the whole root. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 185 Resins are abundant, e.g. in the Euphorbias, and in Opium. |
2. A resinous precipitate obtained by special treatment of certain vegetable products; a similar substance obtained from the bile of animals.
| 1681 tr. Willis' Rem. Med. Wks. Vocab., Resine, a chymical extraction of several druggs so called, being in substance like to rosine or resine. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 29 The Resin or Magistery of Jalap is made with Spirit of Wine. 1826 Henry Elem. Chem. I. 401 The resin of bile may be obtained by the following process... Berzelius, however,..denies that it is a true resin. 1880 J. W. Legg Bile 2 He also separated a resin or fat, to which he attributed in chief the colour and taste of the bile. |
3. Any synthetic material resembling a natural resin; now
usu. any of a large and varied class of synthetic organic polymeric materials (solid or liquid) that are thermosetting or thermoplastic (see also
quot. 1934) and are used
esp. as plastics or their chief ingredients. Freq. with qualifying
adj. or
n.,
esp. synthetic.
| 1883 Amer. Chem. Jrnl. V. 338 Concentrated sulphuric acid on a mixture of benzoic aldehyde and resorcin gave a reddish resin. 1909 Chem. Abstr. III. 1818 Process of manufacturing synthetic resins as substitutes for shellac, consisting in treating o-cresol with formaldehyde in the presence of an acid. 1934 Chem. Rev. XV. 123 The resinous plastic field may well be divided into two main divisions dependent upon properties which find reflection in use. (1) The resins, which are melted for flow and cooled for hardening into the finished shape... (2) The resinoids, which in molding are heated for flow and also heated for hardening effect. 1937 Discovery Jan. 27/2 A new series of synthetic resins, claimed to be as clear as optical glass and to be..non⁓shattering,..is being marketed in the United States. 1943, etc. [see ion exchange]. 1951 Engineering 20 Apr. 469/3 The setting of synthetic-resin glues by high frequency heating. 1957 Which? Autumn 20/2 The actual processing of these fabrics consists of various ways of putting the resin in under heat and pressure. 1970 Gait & Hancock Plastics & Synthetic Rubbers iii. 60 Production of phenolic resins is still increasing. 1973 Materials & Technol. VI. i. 86 Much imported and all British-made plywood is manufactured with synthetic resin adhesives of one type or other. 1976 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 182/1 Probably the cheapest resin to use for plastic bottles is polystyrene. |
4. a. attrib. and
Comb., as
resin acid,
resin candle,
† resin gum,
resin lac,
resin-oil,
resin-pot,
resin soap,
resin-wax;
resin-based,
resin-bonded,
resin-finished,
resin-scented,
resin-tipped,
resin-treated adjs.;
† resinasphalt,
= retinasphalt;
resin-bush, a South African shrub (see
quot.);
resin-flux, an excessive flow of resin, occurring as a disease in pine-trees;
resin gas, illuminating gas made from resin;
resin opal, a variety of opal (see
quot.);
resin-plant (see
quot.);
resin-weed,
= rosin-weed.
| 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 77 Rectified turpentine should always be used, since the crude oil contains *resin acids, formic acid, etc. |
| 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 595 In the strata of this substance, Mr. Hatchet also observed small masses approaching to the nature of the lignite of Cologne, and which he called resinasphaltum, or *resinasphalt. |
| 1959 Times 3 Mar. 7/7 *Resin-based paint. |
| 1940 ‘Plastes’ Plastics in Industry x. 147 Not only have a number of private houses been built of *resin-bonded plywood, but also several garages and petrol stations. 1959 Engineering 16 Jan. 86/1 This year there are in evidence still more hulls either moulded or sheathed in resin-bonded glass fibre. 1978 Lancashire Life Oct. 125/2 Birchwood ply used for work tops, resin-bonded and waterproofed particle board, steel runners with nylon bearings, [etc.]. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 479/2 Euryops speciosissimus is called *Resin⁓bush by the colonists, because of a gummy exudation often seen on the stem and leaves. |
| 1849 James Woodman vii, Neither lamp nor taper, nor even a common *resin candle, gave light within. |
| 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. v. 231 It also has the effect of making the *resin-finished fabric tear more easily. |
| 1887 Garnsey & Balfour tr. De Bary's Comp. Morph. Fungi 384 The symptoms of disease which precede death in fir-trees are known as ‘*resin-flux’ (‘Harzsticken, Harzüberfülle’). Note, The word resin-flux is therefore introduced as indicating a prominent symptom of the disease, although it is not an exact rendering of the German terms. |
| 1836–41 Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 556 *Resin Gas. 1856 Orr's Circ. Sci., Pract. Chem. 516 The liquor which is produced by the compression of resin-gas. |
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. li. 8 Taketh *recyne gumme to his sorewe. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1097 The Hindus from time immemorial have possessed the *resin lac. |
| 1856 Orr's Circ. Sci., Pract. Chem. 518 Seven and a quarter gallons of *resin-oil. |
| 1868 Dana Min. (ed. 5) 198 *Resin opal (Wachsopal, Pechopal, Germ.), wax-, honey- to ochre-yellow, with a resinous lustre. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n. 115/1 *Resin-plant, Carana, Bursera acuminata. |
| 1890 E. H. Barker Wayfaring France 40 The earthen *resin-pots fixed to the pines. |
| 1937 J. Betjeman Continual Dew 11 Drained dark the pines in *resin-scented rain. |
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 850 Manufacture of Yellow or *Resin Soap. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 653 A pyre of crosslaid *resintipped sticks. |
| 1962 J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics i. 5 It was soon observed that the *resin-treated fabrics possess certain properties in addition to ‘crease-resistance’. |
| 1891 Anthony's Phot. Bull. IV. 299 Bringing their undersides in contact with the *resin-wax cement. |
| 1852 L. B. MacKinnon Atlantic & Transatlantic Sk. I. 268, I found that he had spoken the truth, and that the *resin grass, or weed, had peculiar leaves which always grew in the same direction. 1869 Parkman Discov. Gt. West xvii. (1875) 206 The meadows..spangled with the yellow blossoms of the resin-weed and the Rudbeckia. |
b. attrib., in terms denoting vessels in plants that contain resin secreted by cells lining them, as
resin canal,
resin duct,
resin passage,
resin reservoir.
| 1854 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. X. ii. 4 In form the amber is either like drops,..or as the casts of resin-ducts and cavities. 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sach's Bot. 77 The origin of resin and gum passages depends also on the formation of inter⁓cellular passages. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 357 In the angle of the Y lies a resin-canal. Ibid. 441 Among the Coniferæ all investigated species..have resin-passages or resin-reservoirs. 1896 W. R. Fisher tr. Schlich's Man. Forestry V. 14 Turpentine is chiefly found in the resin-ducts. 1924 W. S. Jones Timbers iv. 24 The presence of resin canals in dicotyledonous woods is, as in the case of Conifers, of considerable diagnostic value. Ibid. v. 30 Resin ducts are usually absent from the wood of many genera of Conifers. 1938 H. E. Desch Timber ii. 20 Resin canals run vertically in the stem and horizontally in the rays, and are just large enough to be seen with the naked eye. 1967 N. T. Mirov Genus Pinus vii. 486 When the pine is wounded, the resin canals are severed. The oleoresin, squeezed from the epithelial cells into the resin canals, may be gathered in receptacles attached below the wound. |
▪ III. resin, v. (
ˈrɛzɪn)
[f. prec.] trans. To rub or treat with resin.
| 1865 Spohr's Autobiog. II. 69 The bow, which she had previously resined. 1899 B. Harraden Fowler 225 He resined his bow, and began. |