Bakelite /ˈbāk(ə)ˌlīt/ I. noun ‹trademark› an early form of brittle plastic, typically dark brown, made from formaldehyde and phenol, used chiefly for electrical equipment. – origin early 20th cent.: named after Leo H. Baekeland (1863–1944), the Belgian-born American chemist who invented it, + -ite1.
