Meanings
plural ethanes
- uncountableusuallychemistryAn aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₂H₆, gaseous at normal temperatures and pressures, being a constituent of natural gas.
- countableusuallychemistryThe same compound, subjected to modification by replacing one or more of the hydrogen atoms with other radicals.
chlorinated ethanes; halogenated ethanes
2 more examples
The dissociation constants for ethanes in which the two halves of the molecule are different are not always close to the mean of the dissociation constants of the corresponding symmetrical ethanes.
1959, A. F. Trotman-Dickenson, Free Radicals: An Introduction, page 45Analysis of the ethane fraction also revealed anomalous deuteration of the ethane, the ethanes C₂H₅D, C₂H₄D₂ and C₂H₃D₃ being observed as well as C₂H₆. Ethanes with more than three D atoms were not detected.
1968, Transactions of the Faraday Society, volume 64, page 1573
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna colorless odorless alkane gas used as fuel
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
- Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
- Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
- Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
- Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
- Latinaethēr
- GermanÄther
- GermanEther
- Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
- Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
- GermanEthy
- Englishethyl
- Englisheth-
- Englishethane
Translations
Bulgarian ета́н
- ета́н (etán)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Catalan età
- etàaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Chinese Mandarin 乙烷
- 乙烷 (yǐwán)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Czech etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Dutch ethaan
- ethaanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Esperanto etano
- etanoaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Finnish etaani
- etaanialiphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
French éthane
- éthanealiphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
German Ethan, Äthan
- Ethanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
- Äthanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Greek αιθάνιο
- αιθάνιο (aithánio)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Hungarian etán
- etánaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Indonesian etana
- etanaaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Irish eatán
- eatánaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Italian etano
- etanoaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Japanese エタン
- エタン (etan)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Korean 에테인, 에탄
- 에테인 (etein)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
- 에탄 (etan)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Lithuanian etanas
- etanasaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Norwegian etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Persian اتان
- اتان (etân)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Polish etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Portuguese etano
- etanoaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Romanian etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Russian эта́н
- эта́н (etán)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Spanish etano
- etanoaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Swedish etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Tagalog daltan
- daltanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Turkish etan
- etanaliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Ukrainian ета́н
- ета́н (etán)aliphatic hydrocarbon, C2H6
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ethane
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
ethane. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethane
“ethane.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethane. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ethane,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ethane.
Source: ethane on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.