The name for glycerol also known as glycerin derives from the Greek word for "sweet," glykys. Because of its taste and texture, glycerol is used as a sweetener and emulsifier in many foods. Because glycerol molecules [C3H5(OH)3] contain hydroxyl groups (OH-) attached to carbon atoms, the substance is classified as an alcohol.Also known as glycerin, glycerol occurs in the form of glycerol esters, or glycerides, in all fats and natural oils. In fact, olive oil was the substance in which glycerol was first discovered in 1783 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele while he was studying a variety of fruit and vegetable materials.

Until the twentieth century, glycerol was obtained almost always as a by-product from the manufacture of soap, which involves the reaction of a base (sodium hydroxide) with the glycerides in fats and oils. Michel Eugène Chevreul, a pioneer in the chemical analysis of fats, was the first scientist to note glycerol could be obtained in this way. Chevreul discovered that all animal fats break down into fatty acids and glycerin through the process called hyrdrolysis. Although most glycerol is still produced along with soap, large quantities are now synthesized from propylene, a hydrocarbon made from petroleum. Charles Friedel (1832-1899), the French organic chemist who conducted the first thorough research on alcohols, discovered a method for synthesizing glycerol from propylene in 1871.

Today, glycerol is used most often to make resins for paints, varnishes, and coatings. Also, cellophane and certain papers become flexible, yet retain their toughness when treated with glycerol. Glycerol is also used to make antifreeze and medicines. Nearly every industry uses glycerol, making it one of the most valuable alcohols. Dynamite and gunpowder contain glycerol in the form of nitroglycerine, which the Italian chemist Antonio Sobrero (1812-1888) prepared in 1847 by slowly adding glycerol to a compound of nitric and sulfuric acids. After nearly killing himself in an explosion produced from heating a small quantity of nitroglycerine in a test tube, Sobrero decided that the substance was too dangerous to promote and did not publicize his discovery. Other scientists, such as the Swedish inventor Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896), exploited nitroglycerine as a "blasting oil" for mining and construction. Following the death of his brother in a factory explosion in 1864, Nobel developed safer methods for storing, transporting, and using nitroglycerine