viscous

English

WOTD – 5 March 2008

Etymology

First attested in 1605. Borrowed from Middle French visqueux and Late Latin viscōsus, from Latin viscum (“birdlime”). Doublet of viscose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪs.kəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophone: viscus
• Rhymes: -ɪskəs

Adjective

viscous (comparative more viscous, superlative most viscous)

2. Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid (that is, a high viscosity).

   Synonyms: syrupy, viscid, viscose, thickflowing

   Antonym: inviscid

   • 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 December 2014:

     […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.

4. (physics) Of or pertaining to viscosity.

   viscous coefficient

Derived terms

• elastoviscous
• electroviscous
• gyroviscous
• isoviscous
• nonviscous
• semiviscous
• ultraviscous
• viscous damper
• viscousless
• viscously
• viscousness

 

Related terms

• viscid
• viscidity
• viscoid
• viscoidal
• viscose
• viscosimeter
• viscosity
• viscousness

 

Translations

having a thick, sticky consistency

• Arabic: لَزِج m (lazij)
• Assamese: বীজল (bizol)
• Bikol Central: mapulot (bcl)
• Bulgarian: вискозен (bg) (viskozen)
• Burmese: ပျစ် (my) (pyac)
• Catalan: viscós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黏的 (zh), 黏稠的 (zh)

• Czech: vazký, viskózní (cs), hustý (cs)
• Danish: viskøs
• Dutch: viskeus (nl), dik (nl), lobbig (nl), dikvloeibaar (nl)
• Finnish: sakea (fi), sitkeä (fi), tahmea (fi); viskoottinen, viskoosinen (fi), viskoosi (fi)
• French: visqueux (fr), visqueuse (fr) f
• Friulian: viscôs
• Galician: viscoso
• Georgian: ბლანტი (blanṭi), მწებვარე (mc̣ebvare)
• German: zähflüssig (de), viskos (de), dickflüssig (de)
• Greek: ιξώδης (el) (ixódis)
• Hindi: श्यान (hi) (śyān)
• Hungarian: viszkózus (hu)
• Indonesian: kental (id)
• Italian: viscoso (it) m, vischioso m
• Japanese: 粘性の (ja) (ねんせいの, nensei no)
• Kapampangan: marayuput (modern), maraiuput (traditional)
• Macedonian: ви́скозен (vískozen), густ (gust), ле́плив (lépliv)
• Malay: likat (ms), ليکت, lekat (ms), pekat (ms), ڤکت
• Occitan: viscós (oc)
• Pashto: ټينګ (ṭing)
• Polish: lepki (pl), kleisty (pl)
• Portuguese: viscoso (pt)
• Romanian: vâscos (ro), cleios (ro)
• Russian: вя́зкий (ru) (vjázkij), густо́й (ru) (gustój), ли́пкий (ru) (lípkij) (sticky), кле́йкий (ru) (kléjkij) (sticky)
• Serbo-Croatian: viskozno n
• Slovak: viskózny (sk), hustý, väzký
• Slovene: viskózen
• Spanish: viscoso (es), alastoso m, alaste (es)
• Swedish: trögflytande (sv), viskös (sv), grötig (sv)
• Tagalog: malapuyot
• Vietnamese: sệt (vi), đặc (vi)

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin viscōsus, from Latin viscum.

Adjective

viscous m (oblique and nominative feminine singular viscouse)

1. viscous (of a liquid, thick; tending to flow slowly)

Descendants

• Middle French: visqueux
  • French: visqueux
  • → English: viscous

References

• viscous on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub