Etymology

dichloromethane

D2I1C3H4L1O1R1O1M3E1T1H4A1N1E1

Today it means: The partially halogenated hydrocarbon CH₂Cl₂ widely used as a solvent Full definition →

English methane ← German Methy ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*dwi-
  4. Ancient Greekδῐ- (dĭ-)
  5. Latindi-
  6. Englishdi-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃rós
  9. Proto-Hellenic*kʰlōrós
  10. Ancient Greekχλωρός (khlōrós)
  11. Englishchloro-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
  13. Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
  14. Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
  15. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  16. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  17. GermanMethy
  18. Englishmethyl
  19. Englishmethane
  20. English todaydichloromethane

From di- + chloro- + methane.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.