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Chemical vs Synthetic - What's the difference?

chemical | synthetic |

As adjectives the difference between chemical and synthetic

is that chemical is (label) of or relating to alchemy while synthetic is of, or relating to synthesis.

As nouns the difference between chemical and synthetic

is that chemical is any specific chemical element or chemical compound while synthetic is a synthetic compound.

chemical

English

Adjective

(-)
  • (label) Of or relating to alchemy.
  • Of or relating to chemistry.
  • Of or relating to a material or processes not commonly found in nature or in a particular product.

    • Derived terms

    * technochemical

    External links

    * (Chemistry)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any specific chemical element or chemical compound.
  • (label) An artificial chemical compound.
    • I color my hair with henna, not chemicals .
  • (label) An addictive drug.

    • Usage notes

    * The noun is frequently used in a slang and more specific non-technical way (2nd and 3rd definition) by the general public. Chemists and those who understand chemistry may gravitate toward the first, but the term "substance" is preferred usage.

    Derived terms

    * antichemical * chemical abortion * chemical affinity * chemical agent * chemical beam epitaxy * chemical biology * chemical bond * chemical castration * chemical change * chemical clock * chemical composition * chemical database * chemical decomposition * chemical defense * chemical dependency * chemical depilatory * chemical dermatitis * chemical ecology * chemical element * chemical energy * chemical engineering * chemical fingerprint * chemical hazard * chemical horn * chemical indicator * chemical industry * chemical kinetics * chemical laser * chemical law * chemical messenger * chemical oceanography * chemical pathology * chemical peel * chemical peritonitis * chemical physics * chemical plant * chemical reaction * chemical reactor * chemical sensitivity * chemical series * chemical shift * chemical toilet * chemical weapon

    Related terms

    * alchemical * chemist * chemistry

    See also

    * molecule * reagent

    Anagrams

    *

    synthetic

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of, or relating to synthesis.
  • (chemistry) Produced by synthesis instead of being isolated from a natural source (but may be identical to a product so obtained).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A new prescription , passage=As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.}}
  • Artificial, not genuine.
  • (grammar) Pertaining to the joining of bound morphemes in a word. Compare analytic.

    • Derived terms

    * nucleosynthetic * syntheticism

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A synthetic compound.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=January 14, author=Elsa Brenner, title=Art House to Get a Campus, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Only plastics and synthetics that cannot be recycled will end up in landfills, he said. }}