Etymology

methylcellulose

M3E1T1H4Y4L1C3E1L1L1U1L1O1S1E1

Today it means: A white powdery substance, obtained by the methylation of cellulose, that swells in contact with water to form a gel; it has many industrial applications. Full definition →

English cellulose ← French cellulose ← Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?
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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. Englishmethyl-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-
  10. Latincella
  11. Latincellula
  12. Frenchcellule
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  15. Frenchcellulose
  16. Englishcellulose
  17. English todaymethylcellulose

From methyl- + cellulose.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.