Etymology

terpene

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Today it means: Any of a very large class of naturally occurring and synthetic organic compounds formally derived from the hydrocarbon isoprene; they include many volatile compounds used in perfume and food flavours, turpentine, the steroids, the carotene pigments and rubber. Full definition →

German Terpen ← Latin terebinthina
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromterebinthina
  2. German · derived fromTerpentin
  3. German · borrowed fromTerpen
  4. English todayterpene

From German Terpen, coined by August Kekulé in 1866 in analogy to German Terpentin, from Latin terebinthina. Piecewise doublet of terpin; compare also terebinth and turpentine.

Words from the same roots

Latinterebinthina all →

turpentine

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.