acetate

noun

Etymology: Formed from the root of Latin acētum (“vinegar”) + -ate, from aceō (“to be sour”). By surface analysis, acet- + -ate.

1. Any ester or salt of acetic acid.

   “[…] to pad a piece in diluted acetate of alumine to obtain a pale lemon ground […]”

2. Cellulose acetate.

   “Performers use acetate because eyelash glue is not available. They create eyelashes out of horse hair or cut from carbon paper. Their nails are glued on with a shoe adhesive.”

3. A transparent sheet used for overlays, whether of cellulose acetate or (loosely) any macroscopically similar plastic.

   “Near-synonym: gel”

4. In full acetate disc: a disc of aluminium covered in a wax used to make demonstration copies of a phonograph record.

   “Acetates are a relic of the days before cassettes, DAT, and recordable CDs came into widespread use in recording studios. Manufactured from aluminum, and coated in a thin sheet of vinyl, they were produced to allow the concerned parties to hear how a particular version of a recording would sound outside the studio, on their home hi-fi, for example.”