Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Methyl
/ˈmiːθaɪl/noun
The single-carbon chemical group CH3, the smallest of the alkyl groups.
The Greek roots
μέθυ
méthy
wine
ὕλη
hýlē
wood
Literally: “wood wine”
The story of the word
Dumas and Péligot built methylene in 1835 from Greek for wine and wood, because the alcohol they were working with was distilled from wood. English already had wood spirit for the same liquid; the Greek dressing made it a chemical term. Methanol still blinds and kills people who drink it, which is the practical difference the two names conceal.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1830s
Same family
methanolmethaneethylhylomorphism
In a sentence
A single methyl group on the ring changes how the drug binds.
Methyl alcohol is not a substitute for the drinkable kind.