Etymology

methane

M3E1T1H4A1N1E1

Today it means: The simplest aliphatic hydrocarbon, CH₄, being a constituent of natural gas, and one of the most abundant greenhouse gases. Full definition →

English methyl ← 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. Englishmethyl
  8. English todaymethane

From methyl + -ane.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.