Etymology

alkane

A1L1K5A1N1E1

Today it means: Any acyclic saturated hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, etc.). Full definition →

German Alkan ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē) ← Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.?
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The story

  1. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  2. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  3. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  4. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  5. Medieval Latinalcoho
  6. GermanAlk(ohol)
  7. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  8. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  9. GermanAlkyl
  10. Germanalk-
  11. GermanAlkan
  12. English todayalkane

From German Alkan, formed as alkyl + -ane.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.