Cosmetic

How to spell cosmetic

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce cosmetic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cosmetic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the improvement of appearance, or affecting only the surface rather than the substance.
2. nounA product applied to the body, especially the face, to improve or alter its appearance.

Cosmetic in a sentence

• adjective

  The clinic offers cosmetic procedures such as teeth whitening.

• noun

  She tested each cosmetic on her wrist before buying it.

• adjective

  The budget cuts were cosmetic rather than a genuine reform.

• noun

  The shop sells every cosmetic at half price this week.

Where does cosmetic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek kosmetikos, meaning 'skilled in arranging or adorning', which was built on the verb kosmein, 'to arrange, order, or decorate'. Behind that verb lies the famous Greek noun kosmos, which meant 'order' and, by extension, 'the orderly universe', the very same root that gives us 'cosmos' and 'cosmic'. The idea was that beautifying the body was a matter of putting it into pleasing order, so the same kosmos that named the harmonious heavens also named face powder. English picked the word up in the early 1600s, partly through French cosmetique, first as a noun for beautifying preparations and then as an adjective. Remembering that 'cosmetic' shares its 'cosm-' beginning with 'cosmos' helps fix that opening spelling, since both descend from the Greek notion of bringing things into order.

How the word is built

• cosm- (from Greek kosmos: order, adornment)
• -etic (adjective suffix forming 'relating to')