Detergent - Wikipedia
Etymology. Detergent is borrowed from the Latin verb detergere, which is a compound of de 'away from' and tergere 'to wipe'. In English, it was used as an adjective, detergent, in the 17th century. Structure and properties. Detergents are a group of compounds with an amphiphilic structure, where each molecule has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic portions.