Etymology

menaquinone

M3E1N1A1Q10U1I1N1O1N1E1

Today it means: A pale yellow crystalline naphthoquinone C₄₁H₅₆O₂ that is obtained especially from putrefied fish meal and produced by bacteria in the large intestine and essential for the blood-clotting process. It is much more unsaturated than vitamin K₁ and slightly less active biologically, and is an isoprenoid derivative of menadione. Full definition →

English na(phtho)quinone ← German Methy ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
  2. Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
  3. Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  5. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  6. GermanMethy
  7. Englishme(thyl)
  8. Englishna(phtho)quinone
  9. English todaymenaquinone

From me(thyl) + na(phtho)quinone.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.