Etymology

perchloroethylene

Today it means: Synonym of tetrachloroethylene, a nonflammable, non-polar solvent with low toxicity, especially in the dry-cleaning trade Full definition →

English ethylene ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē) ← German Ethy
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pér
  3. Proto-Italic*per
  4. Latinper
  5. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  6. Proto-Italic*peri-
  7. Latinper-
  8. Englishper-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃rós
  11. Proto-Hellenic*kʰlōrós
  12. Ancient Greekχλωρός (khlōrós)
  13. Englishchloro-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  15. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  16. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  17. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  18. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  19. Latinaethēr
  20. GermanÄther
  21. GermanEther
  22. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  23. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  24. GermanEthy
  25. Englishethyl
  26. Englisheth-
  27. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  28. Englishethylene
  29. English todayperchloroethylene

From per- + chloro- + ethylene.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.