diethyl ether

noun

A clear, colorless, highly flammable liquid with a low boiling point and chemical formula CH₃-CH₂-O-CH₂-CH₃. Used as a solvent and in the past as a general anesthetic.

Similar
etherethoxyethaneethyl etherethyl oxidedivinyl ethervinyl ether
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Meanings

noundiethyl ether (uncountable)
  1. uncountablechemistryA clear, colorless, highly flammable liquid with a low boiling point and chemical formula CH₃-CH₂-O-CH₂-CH₃. Used as a solvent and in the past as a general anesthetic.
    1 more example

    Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml.

    1997, A. J. Taylor, D. S. Mothram, editors, Flavour Science: Recent Developments, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 63

    Synonyms: ether, ethoxyethane, ethyl ether, ethyl oxide

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA clear, colorless, highly flammable liquid with a low boiling point and chemical formula CH₃-CH₂-O-CH₂-CH₃. Used as a solvent and in the past as a general anesthetic.

Similar
etherethoxyethaneethyl etherethyl oxide

More synonyms by meaning

nouna colorless volatile highly flammable liquid formerly used as an inhalation anesthetic

Similar
etherethoxyethanedivinyl ethervinyl etherethyl ether
Broader
inhalation anestheticinhalation anaestheticinhalation general anesthetic
Also see
etherethoxyethaneethyl ether

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 乙醚
  • 乙醚 (yǐmí)diethyl ether
Esperanto duetila etero
  • duetila eterodiethyl ether
Finnish dietyylieetteri
  • dietyylieetteridiethyl ether
German Diethylether
  • Diethyletherdiethyl ether
Greek διαιθυλαιθέρας
  • διαιθυλαιθέρας (diaithylaithéras)diethyl ether
Italian etere dietilico
  • etere dietilicodiethyl ether
Japanese ジエチルエーテル
  • ジエチルエーテル (jiechiruēteru)diethyl ether
Persian دیاتیل اتر
  • دیاتیل اتر (di-etil eter)diethyl ether
Polish eter dietylowy
  • eter dietylowydiethyl ether
Romanian eter dietilic, eter etilic
  • eter dietilicdiethyl ether
  • eter etilicdiethyl ether
  • dietil eterdiethyl ether
Russian диэти́ловый эфи́р
  • диэти́ловый эфи́р (dietílovyj efír)diethyl ether
Spanish dietiléter
  • dietiléterdiethyl ether
Turkish dietil eter
  • dietil eterdiethyl ether
Cite this entry
APA

diethyl ether. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diethyl%20ether

MLA

“diethyl ether.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diethyl%20ether. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diethyl ether,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diethyl%20ether.

Source: diethyl ether on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.