Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Paraffin \Par"af*fin\, Paraffine \Par"af*fine\, n. [F.
   paraffine, fr. L. parum too little + affinis akin. So named
   in allusion to its chemical inactivity.] (Chem.)
   A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and
   odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum,
   etc., by distillation. It is used as an illuminant and
   lubricant. It is very inert, not being acted upon by most of
   the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a
   definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture
   of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas
   series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid,
   liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus coal
   gas and kerosene consist largely of paraffins.

   Note: In the present chemical usage this word is spelt
         paraffin, but in commerce it is commonly spelt
         paraffine.

   {Native paraffin}. See {Ozocerite}.

   {Paraffin series}. See {Methane series}, under {Methane}.