C18: from New Latin sāpōnāceus, from Latin sāpōsoap
saponaceous in American English
(ˌsæpəˈneɪʃəs)
adjective
soapy or soaplike
Word origin
ModL saponaceus < L sapo, soap: see saponify
saponaceous in American English
(ˌsæpəˈneiʃəs)
adjective
resembling soap; soapy
Derived forms
saponaceousness
noun
Word origin
[1700–10; ‹ NL sāpōnāceus, equiv. to L sāpōn- (s. of sāpō) soap + -āceus-aceous]This word is first recorded in the period 1700–10. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cozy, emphatic, envelope, marquise, sliding scale-aceous is a suffix with the meanings “resembling, having the nature of,” “made of,” occurringin loanwords from Latin (cretaceous; herbaceous) and forming adjectives in English on the Latin model (ceraceous), esp. adjectival correspondents to taxonomic names ending in -acea and -aceae (rosaceous)