Nonylphenol

Origin

nonyl + phenol

Full definition of nonylphenol

Noun

1. (organic compound) Any of a family of closely related organic compounds, a subset of the alkylphenols, that are precursors to commercially important detergents.
• 2009, February 26, Julie Scelfo, When It Comes to Detergents, What’s the Least Irresponsible Choice?, Make sure you don’t use detergents with phosphates or nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants, but that information is rarely available on the labels.