To my knowledge, there is no satisfactory definition of the word “wax” in chemical terms. It is
derived from the Anglo-Saxon word “weax” for beeswax, so a practical definition of a “wax“ may
therefore be “a substance similar in composition and physical properties to beeswax”.
Technologists use the term for a variety of commercial products of mineral, marine, plant and
insect origin that contain fatty materials of various kinds. Biochemists link waxes with the thin layer
of fatty constituents that cover the leaves of plants or provide a surface coating for insects or the
skin of animals. All of these tend to contain wax esters as major components, i.e. esters of longchain
fatty alcohols with long-chain fatty acids.
The