Cosmetic
From Free net encyclopedia
The word cosmetic can refer to several things:
- Cosmetic is sometimes used as a noun, to refer to a single item of cosmetics.
- Cosmetic also refers to beauty or appearance, especially concerning the human body. For example, plastic surgery can be done either for practical reasons, such as to repair badly damaged body parts, or for cosmetic reasons, such as making someone's nose smaller so as to be more attractive.
- Cosmetic may also refer to topical products that are not drugs. Thus, products worn to increase beauty may be cosmetic (no drug active) or they may be drugs (e.g. in the US and Canada skin creams containing SPF and some anti-acne ingrediants).
Also of note is that according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the words Cosmetic and Cosmos are both derived from the same Greek root, kosmos, which originally meant order, arrangement, and adornment. Noting the perfect order and arrangement of the heavens, Pythagoras began using the word cosmos, to mean the entire ordered, adorned and harmonious universe.