latex

noun (plural latexes or latices /ˈlatəˌsēz/)

• a milky fluid found in many plants, such as poppies and spurges, that exudes when the plant is cut and coagulates on exposure to the air. The latex of the rubber tree is the chief source of natural rubber.
• a synthetic product resembling this, consisting of a dispersion in water of polymer particles, used to make paints, coatings, and other products.
• (also latex paint) a type of paint used for walls, consisting of pigment bound in synthetic latex that forms an emulsion with water.