Etymology

caproic acid

Today it means: A liquid fatty acid, CH₃(CH₂)₄COOH, obtained from animal fats, and used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and flavours. Full definition →

Latin caper
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcaper“goat”
  2. English todaycaproic acid

From Latin caper (“goat”) because of its smell. From capr- + -oic and acid.

Words from the same roots

Latincaper all →

chevroncapriccapri-caprifolecaproic

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.