Meanings
plural formaldehydes
- countableuncountablechemistryThe simplest aldehyde, HCHO, a colourless gas that has many industrial applications; it dissolves in water to give formol (10%) and formalin.
The shark chosen to replace the original was injected with 224 gallons of formaldehyde, ten times the amount used on the first shark and in a stronger concentration.
2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN1 more example
Back in 2006, Hirst found himself at the centre of a different debate arising out of the need to refurbish or update formaldehyde pieces that are prone to decay. It related to the piece that made him famous: the formaldehyde shark The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), which had been bought by the US hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen for $8m.
2024 March 19, Maeve McClenaghan, “Damien Hirst formaldehyde animal works dated to 1990s were made in 2017”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe simplest aldehyde, HCHO, a colourless gas that has many industrial applications; it dissolves in water to give formol (10%) and formalin.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishform(yl)
- Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
- Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
- Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
- Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
- Latinalcohol
- Proto-Indo-European*de
- Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
- Proto-Italic*dē
- Latindē
- Latinde-
- Proto-Indo-European*wed-
- Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
- Proto-Hellenic*údōr
- Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
- Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
- GermanAldehyd
- Englishaldehyde
- Englishformaldehyde
Translations
Catalan formaldehid
- formaldehidthe organic compound HCHO
Chinese Cantonese 甲醛, 蟻醛 /蚁醛
- 甲醛 (gaap³ cyun⁴)the organic compound HCHO
- 蟻醛 /蚁醛 (ngai⁵ cyun⁴)the organic compound HCHO
Chinese Mandarin 甲醛, 蟻醛 /蚁醛
- 甲醛 (jiǎquán)the organic compound HCHO
- 蟻醛 /蚁醛 (yǐquán)the organic compound HCHO
Czech formaldehyd
- formaldehydthe organic compound HCHO
Danish formaldehyd
- formaldehydthe organic compound HCHO
Dutch formaldehyde
- formaldehydethe organic compound HCHO
Esperanto formaldehido
- formaldehidothe organic compound HCHO
Finnish formaldehydi
- formaldehydithe organic compound HCHO
French formaldéhyde
- formaldéhydethe organic compound HCHO
German Formaldehyd
- Formaldehydthe organic compound HCHO
Greek φορμαλδεΰδη
- φορμαλδεΰδη (formaldeÿ́di)the organic compound HCHO
Hebrew פורמלין
- פורמלין (formalín)the organic compound HCHO
Hindi वम्रसुव्युद
- वम्रसुव्युद (vamrasuvyud)the organic compound HCHO
Hungarian formaldehid
- formaldehidthe organic compound HCHO
Indonesian formaldehida
- formaldehidathe organic compound HCHO
Italian formaldeide
- formaldeidethe organic compound HCHO
Japanese ホルムアルデヒド
- ホルムアルデヒド (horumuarudehido)the organic compound HCHO
Korean 폼알데하이드
- 폼알데하이드 (pomaldehaideu)the organic compound HCHO
Latvian formaldehīds
- formaldehīdsthe organic compound HCHO
Lithuanian formaldehidas
- formaldehidasthe organic compound HCHO
Malay formaldehid, metanal
- formaldehidthe organic compound HCHO
- metanalthe organic compound HCHO
Persian فرمالدئید, فرمالدهید
- فرمالدئید (formâlde'id)the organic compound HCHO
- فرمالدهید (formâldehid)the organic compound HCHO
Polish aldehyd mrówkowy, formaldehyd
- aldehyd mrówkowythe organic compound HCHO
- formaldehydthe organic compound HCHO
- metanalthe organic compound HCHO
Portuguese formaldeído
- formaldeídothe organic compound HCHO
Romanian formaldehidă
- formaldehidăthe organic compound HCHO
Russian формальдеги́д
- формальдеги́д (formalʹdɛgíd)the organic compound HCHO
Spanish formaldehído
- formaldehídothe organic compound HCHO
Swedish formaldehyd
- formaldehydthe organic compound HCHO
Thai ฟอร์มาลดีไฮด์
- ฟอร์มาลดีไฮด์the organic compound HCHO
Turkish formaldehit
- formaldehitthe organic compound HCHO
Ukrainian формальдегі́д
- формальдегі́д (formalʹdehíd)the organic compound HCHO
Vietnamese fomanđêhít
- fomanđêhítthe organic compound HCHO
Cite this entry
formaldehyde. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formaldehyde
“formaldehyde.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formaldehyde. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “formaldehyde,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formaldehyde.
Source: formaldehyde on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.