What exactly does the word 'rubber' mean?

What exactly does the word 'rubber' mean?

Rubber seems to be a fairly straightforward word. The French call it caoutchouc recognizing its historically South American 'native' origin. The word derives from a South American Indian word, meaning 'weeping wood' [18, 19]. The dictionary definition of rubber is, 'a material that when stretched returns quickly to its' approximate original shape'. This definition fits the vulcanized material quite well. ASTM Standard D 1566¬98 [1] has a detailed definition of rubber implying the vulcanized material. Unfortunately the rubber industry tends to be somewhat casual in the use of the term rubber. When a rubber product is made, the primary raw material is a polymer. This polymer often has some elasticity, but not always. It is then mixed with chemicals to make a rubber 'compound' which is subsequently vulcanized. This compound is simply a physical mixture of chemicals and indeed a number of ingredients in the vulcanizate might be present only as a physical blend. The industry often calls both the polymer and the uncured compound, 'rubber'. Unvulcanized silicone, for example, (both polymer and uncured compound) does not fit the dictionary definition too well, since it can have the consistency of butter. The word used in this book for the primary raw polymer will be raw gum elastomer.

Some people use the term rubber, to mean NR only, but there have been instances when a customer asked for rubber (expecting the vendor to choose the right type, neoprene, natural, etc.), the vendor however assumed the customer was specifically asking for natural rubber, which in that case turned out to be the worst choice. Naturally, the vulcanized material is also called rubber, as indeed it should be. The word 'elastomer' and 'rubber' are often used by the industry to mean exactly the same thing, which is a waste of such an interesting word (elastomer), which maybe, could have been reserved exclusively to describe the raw polymer. Blow [20] makes comments similar to these, about the word 'rubber' having several meanings. He suggests that the vulcanized material be called 'elastomer'. ASTM Standard D 1566-98 defines 'elastomer' as 'a term often used for rubber and polymers that have properties similar to those of rubber'.