Etymology

formaldehyde

for·mal·de·hyde
F4O1R1M3A1L1D2E1H4Y4D2E1

Today it means: The simplest aldehyde, HCHO, a colourless gas that has many industrial applications; it dissolves in water to give formol (10%) and formalin. Full definition →

English aldehyde ← German Aldehyd ← Ancient Greek ῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
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The story

  1. Englishform(yl)
  2. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  3. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  4. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  5. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  6. Latinalcohol
  7. Proto-Indo-European*de
  8. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  9. Proto-Italic*dē
  10. Latindē
  11. Latinde-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
  14. Proto-Hellenic*údōr
  15. Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
  16. Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
  17. GermanAldehyd
  18. Englishaldehyde
  19. English todayformaldehyde

From form(yl) + aldehyde.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.