Methyl

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈmɛθaɪl/

Definitions

1. A chemical group comprised of a carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms
2. A molecular entity in organic chemistry denoting a specific arrangement during chemical reactions
3. A functional group in organic compounds formed by one carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms

Etymology: Methyl is a chemist's word built from a Greek phrase meaning "wine-wood." In the 1830s, the French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugène Peligot worked out the structure of methanol, the simple alcohol later called wood alcohol. They coined "methylene" from Ancient Greek "méthu," meaning wine (the root also gives "methylated" and, through a different path, "mead"), and "húlē," meaning wood or material. Their intention was to flag the substance's origins: an alcohol made from wood. "Methyl" came later, formed around 1840 by back-formation from "methylene," meaning the shorter word was carved out of the longer one by treating its ending as a suffix to strip away. It was then applied to the group of atoms in methyl alcohol, and the name passed into English from German "Methyl," with French "méthyle" a close parallel.