English
methyl
Methyl comes from German Methyl, and goes back to Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη ‘wood’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῡ̔́ληhū́lē‘wood’
- Germanc. 1650–presentMethyl
- Englishearliest quotation 1973methyl
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῡ̔́ληhū́lē‘wood’
- Germanc. 1650–presentMethyl
- Englishearliest quotation 1973methyl
Earliest quotation: 1973, Robert E. Cornish, Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies: “You might point out in the theory of oxidation…”
The story
French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting its origins, "alcohol made from wood (substance)". The term "methyl" was derived in about 1840 by back-formation from "methylene", and was then applied to describe "methyl alcohol".
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *swel-
swell, swollen, swole, swill, 34 more
through Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη ‘wood’
Today it means
noun The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH₃-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη / methyl