Difluoro

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Containing two atoms of fluorine bonded within a molecular structure
2. Having two fluorine atoms incorporated into a chemical compound
3. Characterized by the presence of two fluorine atoms in its molecular composition

Etymology: "Difluoro" is a chemistry prefix, and its history is simply a combination of two older parts. The "di-" comes from Ancient Greek "dǐ-", meaning "two" or "double," which passed through Latin into English. The "fluoro-" part is built from "fluor," the Latin verb "fluere" ("to flow") in its noun form, used for fluorite, a mineral that melts easily and was used as a flux in smelting. Fluorine was named for that mineral's ability to make other substances flow. In English, "difluoro" is formed by attaching "di-" to "fluoro," the combining form of fluorine, which is itself derived from "fluor" through the element's name. Chemists use "difluoro" in naming compounds that contain two fluorine atoms bonded to the same parent structure, so the prefix signals a count of two.