Term: Acrylic

A paint in which a polymer emulsion, based on synthetic resin, serves as the binder. Acrylic paint is a fast drying paint that forms a tough nontoxic flexible film when dry. Acrylic paints are diluted with water but become water-resistant when fully cured. Depending on how much the paint is diluted, a finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor, an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.

Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden invented the first acrylic paint under the brand name Magna in the 1940s. A waterborne acrylic paint called Aquatec soon followed. Water-soluble artists' acrylic paints became commercially available in the 1950s, offered by Liquitex, with high-viscosity paints similar to those made today becoming available in the early 1960s.