margarine

/ˈmɑrdʒərən/

/ˈmɑdʒərɪn/

Other forms: margarines

Margarine is a butter substitute that's made from oil. One brand of margarine goes by the name "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Try it, and see if you can tell the difference...

Margarine looks a lot like butter — it comes in sticks and in a very soft, spreadable form in a tub. Instead of the butterfat from milk being churned until it's solid (the process for making butter), margarine is made by emulsifying (thickly blending) oil with other fats and ingredients that make it creamy. Margarine was invented in the 1860s by a French scientist.

Definitions of margarine

1. noun

   a spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter
   synonyms: margarin, marge, oleo, oleomargarine

   types:

   stick

   a rectangular quarter pound block of butter or margarine

   type of:

   paste, spread

   a tasty mixture to be spread on bread or crackers or used in preparing other dishes