Ethylacetate

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A clear, flammable liquid used primarily as a solvent in various applications like cosmetics and food flavoring
2. This compound is employed in industrial processes for dissolving materials, as well as in the synthesis of other chemicals
3. A colorless, volatile liquid utilized extensively as a solvent in laboratories and industries, and in the production of various synthetic materials

Etymology: Ethyl acetate is a compound name built the way chemists name esters: "ethyl" from the two-carbon alcohol group, and "acetate" from acetic acid. The "ethyl" part comes from German "Äther" (ether), the name Justus von Liebig and Jean-Baptiste Dumas proposed in 1834 for the radical C2H5, because it was the core of diethyl ether. The "acet" part traces to Latin "acetum" (vinegar), the same root as the English word "acid," since vinegar is dilute acetic acid. The word "acetate" was coined in the early nineteenth century as chemists systematized names for salts and esters of this acid. The compound itself was first described well before its name settled. Its sweet, fruity smell is why it turns up in nail polish remover and in the smell of some ripe fruit and wine, and the modern name simply records its chemical makeup: an ethyl group attached to acetic acid.