Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Glycolic \Gly*col"ic\, a. (Chem.)
   Pertaining to, or derived from, glycol; as, glycolic ether;
   glycolic acid.

   {Glycolic acid} (Chem.), an organic acid, found naturally in
      unripe grapes and in the leaves of the wild grape
      ({Ampelopsis quinquefolia}), and produced artificially in
      many ways, as by the oxidation of glycol, -- whence its
      name. It is a sirupy, or white crystalline, substance,
      {HO.CH2.CO2H}, has the properties both of an alcohol and
      an acid, and is a type of the hydroxy acids; -- called
      also {hydroxyacetic acid}.