nylon

Etymology

Arbitrary letters + -on (by analogy with cotton); the widespread claim that the word derives from abbreviations of New York and London is a myth. Another claim is that an earlier name proposed for the material, intended for use in stockings, was "no-run", which was altered to avoid falsely representing that stockings made from the material would not run at all.

noun

1. Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
2. (in the plural) A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.
   I tore a hole in my nylons while walking home through the woods.
   1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure He put on make-up, nylons, panties, a dress.
   What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. 2007, Matthew Weiner, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, in Mad Men, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
3. (perjoratively, by comparison to silk) A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.