stearic acid

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

• noun A colorless, odorless, waxlike, saturated fatty acid, C₁₈H₃₆O₂, occurring in natural animal and vegetable fats and used in making soaps, candles, lubricants, and other products.

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

• noun organic chemistry The most common saturated fatty acid; it is found in all animal and most vegetable oils and fats; it is used in the manufacture of soap etc.
• noun organic chemistry octadecanoic acid, CH3(CH2)16COOH.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a waxy saturated fatty acid; occurs widely as a glyceride in animal and vegetable fats