Etherified

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Changed into an ether compound through a chemical reaction involving alcohol ; exposed to ether so as to induce anesthesia or dissolve a substance ; joined together by an oxygen atom forming an ether linkage
2. Transformed into an ether by chemical processing ; subjected to ether for numbing effects or as a solvent ; bonded through an oxygen bridge within a molecule
3. Converted into ether through reaction with alcohol ; put under the influence of ether as an anesthetic or treated with it as a solvent ; linked by an ether-type oxygen connection

Etymology: "Etherify" is a plain formation: "ether" with the verb-making suffix "-ify" attached, and the "-ed" ending on "etherified" simply marks the past tense. The surprise lies in "ether" itself, which has travelled a long way. In ancient Greek, "aithēr" was the bright, clear upper air above the lower atmosphere, a substance thought to be the material of the heavens, and it was derived from "aithō," meaning "to burn" or "to blaze." Latin borrowed it as "aether," and English took it from there, so the same word once named the fiery upper sky and, later, a mysterious medium filling space. The suffix has its own pedigree. "-ify" descends through Old French "-ifier" and Latin "-ificāre," a verb-forming element built from "-ficus," meaning "making." English began attaching it to native and borrowed stems to create verbs meaning "to make into" something, which is how "etherify," to turn into ether or to treat with ether, came to be formed.