etherification

E1T1H4E1R1I1F4I1C3A1T1I1O1N1

noun

The process of making an ether, especially the removal of alcohols from petroleum products by reacting with sulfuric acid.

OriginEnglish ether ← Latin aethēr ← Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr) →
Scrabble 22
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Meanings

nounetherification (countable and uncountable, plural etherifications)

plural etherifications

  1. countableuncountablechemistryThe process of making an ether, especially the removal of alcohols from petroleum products by reacting with sulfuric acid.

    The particular kind of tritorium which facilitated the etherification of phosphoric acid, and is applicable to many other chemical operations, affords the means of practising the operation just now proposed, as follows.

    1809, Mr. Boullay, “On Sulphuric Ether, and on the Preparation of it”, in The Repertory Of Arts And Manufactures

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  3. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  4. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  5. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  6. Latinaethēr
  7. Englishether
  8. Englishetherification

From ether + -ification.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“etherification.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etherification. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “etherification,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etherification.

Source: etherification on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.