Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A cyclic ester, or a compound containing a cyclic ester, formed by the intramolecular condensation of a hydroxy carboxylic acid.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A colorless volatile liquid possessing an aromatic smell, produced, along with lactide, by the dry distillation of lactic acid.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) One of a series of organic compounds, being cyclic esters which may be regarded as anhydrides of certain hydroxy acids. In general, they are colorless liquids, having a weak aromatic odor. They are so called because the typical lactone is derived from lactic acid.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun organic chemistry A cyclic intramolecular ester derived from a hydroxy acid.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[lact(o)– + –one.]

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