Etymology

paraxylene

P3A1R1A1X8Y4L1E1N1E1

Today it means: An aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of a benzene with two methyl substituents. Full definition →

English xylene ← Ancient Greek πᾰρᾰ- (pără-) ← Proto-Hellenic *pərai
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pərai
  4. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ́ (părắ)
  5. Ancient Greekπᾰρᾰ- (pără-)
  6. Englishpara-
  7. Englishxylene
  8. English todayparaxylene

From para- + xylene.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.