Polyvinyl acetate, PVA, PVAc, poly(ethenyl ethanoate), is a rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

y synthetic polymer

Synthetic polymer

Synthetic polymers are often referred to as "plastics", such as the well-known polyethylene and nylon. However, most of them can be classified in at least three main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets and elastomers....

 with the formula (C₄H₆O₂)_n. It belongs to the polyvinyl ester

Vinyl polymer

Vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from vinyl monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain, made by polymerizing an alkene group into a chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride...

s family with the general formula -[RCOOCHCH₂]-. It is a type of thermoplastic

Thermoplastic

Thermoplastic, also known as a thermosoftening plastic, is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently...

.

It should not be confused with the related polymer polyvinyl alcohol

Polyvinyl alcohol

Polyvinyl alcohol is a water-soluble synthetic polymer .-Properties:...

, which is called PVA also (PVAc could be considered a technically correct abbreviation for polyvinyl acetate and would aid in avoiding such confusion).

Polyvinyl acetate is a component of a widely-used type of glue, referred to variously as wood glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue or PVA glue.
PVAc is a vinyl polymer.