Etymology

decahydronaphthalene

Today it means: A bicyclic cycloalkane consisting of two fused cyclohexane rings; it is used as an industrial solvent. Full definition →

English naphthalene ← Latin naphtha ← Ancient Greek νάφθα (náphtha)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*déḱm̥
  2. Proto-Hellenic*dékə
  3. Ancient Greekδέκᾰ (dékă)
  4. Ancient Greekδεκάς (dekás)
  5. Late Latindecas
  6. Frenchdéca-
  7. Englishdeca-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
  10. Proto-Hellenic*údōr
  11. Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
  12. Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
  13. Englishhydro-
  14. Akkadiannapṭumbor.?
  15. Old Persian*naftah
  16. Ancient Greekνάφθα (náphtha)
  17. Latinnaphtha
  18. Englishnaphth(a)
  19. Englishnaphthalene
  20. English todaydecahydronaphthalene

From deca- + hydro- + naphthalene.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.