Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Ethyl
/ˈɛθɪl/noun
The two-carbon chemical group found in ethanol and countless other organic compounds.
The Greek roots
αἰθήρ
aithḗr
upper air, blazing sky
ὕλη
hýlē
matter, wood
Literally: “ether-stuff”
The story of the word
Justus von Liebig built Äthyl in 1834 from the name of ether plus ὕλη, the Greek word for wood or raw matter that Aristotle had already turned into the philosophical term for stuff-in-general. αἰθήρ meant the bright upper air the gods breathed, above the murk of ἀήρ. Twentieth-century America met the word on petrol pumps, where Ethyl was the brand name of a lead additive.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1830s
Same family
etherethylenehylomorphismmethyl
In a sentence
Ethyl acetate is the smell of nail polish remover.
Replace the ethyl group with a methyl and the boiling point drops.