Etymology

tetrafluoroethylene

Today it means: The gaseous unsaturated halogenated hydrocarbon, F₂C=CF₂, that is used as a monomer in the production of polytetrafluoroethylene Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσᾰρες (téssăres)
  4. Ancient Greekτετρᾰ- (tetră-)
  5. Englishtetra-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰlewH-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*bʰluH-yé-ti?
  9. Latinfluō
  10. Latinfluor
  11. Englishfluoro-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  13. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  14. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  15. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  16. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  17. Latinaethēr
  18. GermanÄther
  19. GermanEther
  20. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  21. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  22. GermanEthy
  23. Englishethyl
  24. Englisheth-
  25. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  26. Englishethylene
  27. English todaytetrafluoroethylene

From tetra- + fluoro- + ethylene.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.