Etymology

polyether

P3O1L1Y4E1T1H4E1R1

Today it means: a polymer, such as an elastomer, in which carbon atoms of the repeating units are joined by a single oxygen atom Full definition →

English ether ← Latin aethēr ← Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  6. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  7. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  8. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  9. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  10. Latinaethēr
  11. Englishether
  12. English todaypolyether

From poly- + ether.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.