Etymology

propanoic acid

Today it means: A colourless liquid with a sharp unpleasant odour; produced by the bacterial breakdown of fatty acids and therefore found in sweat and some cheese. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

An IUPAC systematic name for the chemical originally named propionic acid. The prop- prefix is derived from propionic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.