The story
A IUPAC nomenclature, from eicos- (“twenty”) + -ane (“alkane suffix”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
eicosane
Today it means: Any of the 366,319 isomers of the aliphatic hydrocarbon having the chemical formula C₂₀H₄₂, but especially n-eicosane CH₃(CH₂)₁₈CH₃. Full definition →