The story
From ladder + -ane, from the resemblance of its chemical structure to a ladder.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: Any of a class of polycyclic hydrocarbons, consisting of repeating cyclobutane moieties, that resemble ladders Full definition →
From ladder + -ane, from the resemblance of its chemical structure to a ladder.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.