Etymology

biphenyl

B3I1P3H4E1N1Y4L1

Today it means: A colourless solid hydrocarbon, C₁₂H₁₀, consisting of two benzene rings linked together by a single bond. Full definition →

English phenyl ← French phényle ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Italic*dwi-
  4. Latinbi-
  5. Englishbi-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  8. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  9. Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
  10. Frenchphéno-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  12. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  13. Frenchphényle
  14. Englishphenyl
  15. English todaybiphenyl

From bi- + phenyl.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.