Etymology

benzyl

B3E1N1Z10Y4L1

Today it means: The univalent radical C₆H₅-CH₂- related to toluene and benzoic acid Full definition →

Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē) ← Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.? ← English benz-
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Arabicلُبَان (lubān)
  2. Proto-Indo-European*yew-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*yéwos
  4. Proto-Indo-Iranian*yáwas
  5. Sanskritयव (yava)bor.?
  6. Proto-Austronesian*zawa
  7. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*zawader.?
  8. Old Javanesejawa
  9. Old JavaneseJawi
  10. Javaneseꦗꦮꦶ (jawi)
  11. Arabicجَاوَة (jāwa)
  12. Arabicـِيّ (-iyy)
  13. Arabicجَاوِيّ (jāwiyy)
  14. Arabicلُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy)
  15. Catalanbenjuí
  16. Middle Frenchbenjoin
  17. Englishbenzoin
  18. Englishbenzo-
  19. Englishbenz-
  20. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  21. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  22. English todaybenzyl

From benz- + -yl.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.