Etymology

chloral

C3H4L1O1R1A1L1

Today it means: A colourless narcotic liquid, trichloroacetaldehyde, CCl₃CHO, obtained at first by the action of chlorine on alcohol and that, when treated with water, produces chloral hydrate. Full definition →

English alcohol ← Middle English alcofol ← Medieval Latin alcoho
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃rós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʰlōrós
  4. Ancient Greekχλωρός (khlōrós)
  5. Englishchlorine
  6. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  7. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  8. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  9. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  10. Medieval Latinalcoho
  11. Middle Englishalcofol
  12. Englishalcohol
  13. English todaychloral

Blend of chlorine + alcohol.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.