methane (n.)

"inflammable colorless and odorless gas; marsh gas," 1867, coined from chemical suffix -ane + syllable abstracted from methyl.

also from 1867

Entries linking to methane

methyl (n.)

univalent hydrocarbon radical, 1840, from German methyl (1840) or directly from French méthyle, back-formation from French méthylène (see methylene). Ultimately from Greek methy "wine" + hylē "wood."

-ane

word-forming element in chemical use, indicating a chain of carbon atoms with no double bonds, proposed 1866 by German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892) to go with -ene, -ine (2), -one.

Trends of methane

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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methylene

syllable of methyl with the general suffix -yl, led to the use of meth- as a separate combining-element, as, for example, in methane...

marsh

Marsh gas "methane generated by decaying matter in marshes" is attested by 1819....

paraffin

colorless, tasteless fatty crystalline substance obtained from petroleum, etc., 1838, from German Paraffin, coined c. 1830 by German chemist Karl von Reichenbach (1788-1869), who first obtained it as a waxy substance from wood tar, irregularly from Latin parum "not very, too litt

gas

1650s, from Dutch gas, probably from Greek khaos "empty space" (see chaos). The sound of Dutch "g" is roughly equivalent to that of Greek "kh." First used by Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont (1577-1644), probably influenced by Paracelsus, who used khaos in an occult sense of "pro

sag

late 14c., saggen, "hang down unevenly," also in Middle English "sink, be mired, sink down," possibly from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse sokkva "to sink," or from Middle Low German sacken "to settle, sink" (as dregs in wine), from denasalized derivative of Proto-Germ

restoration

late 14c., restoracioun, "a means of healing or restoring health, a cure; renewing of something lost," from Old French restoration (Modern French restauration) and directly from Late Latin restorationem (nominative restoratio) "a restoration, renewal," noun of action from past-pa

dismal

c. 1400, "unlucky, inauspicious," in dismal day, earlier as a noun, in the dismal (c. 1300) "in days of misfortune or disaster, under inauspicious circumstances, at an unlucky time," from Anglo-French dismal (mid-13c.), apparently from Old French (li) dis mals "(the) bad days," f

pirate

c. 1300 (mid-13c. as a surname), "a sea-robber, sea-plunderer, one who without authority and by violence seizes or interferes with the ship or property of another on the sea," especially one who is habitually engaged in such robbery or sails the seas for the robbery and plunder o

explode

1530s (transitive), "to reject with scorn," from Latin explodere "drive out or off by clapping, hiss off, hoot off," originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence "drive out, reject, destroy the repute of" (a sense surviving in an exploded theory

grave

"excavation in earth for reception of a dead body," Old English græf "grave; ditch, trench; cave," from Proto-Germanic *grafa-/graba- (source also of Old Saxon graf, Old Frisian gref, Old High German grab "grave, tomb;" Old Norse gröf "cave," Gothic graba "ditch"), cognate with O

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updated on January 06, 2019

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Dictionary entries near methane

meter

-meter

meth

methadone

methamphetamine

methane

methanol

methaqualone

Methedrine

methinks

method