Meanings
nounglycol (plural glycols)
plural glycols
- chemistryA thick, colourless liquid, C₂H₄(OH)₂, of a sweetish taste, produced artificially from certain ethylene compounds and used as an antifreeze; ethylene glycol.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna sweet but poisonous syrupy liquid used as an antifreeze and solvent
Similar
Broader
nounany of a class of alcohols having 2 hydroxyl groups in each molecule
Similar
dioldihydric alcohol
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Hellenic*dlukús
- Ancient Greekγλῠκῠ́ς (glŭkŭ́s)
- Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
- Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
- Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
- Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
- Medieval Latinalcoho
- Middle Englishalcofol
- Englishalcohol
- Englishglycol
From Ancient Greek γλῠκῠ́ς (glŭkŭ́s, “sweet”) + English -ol.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan glicol
- glicolany aliphatic diol
Danish glykol
- glykolany aliphatic diol
French glycol
- glycolany aliphatic diol
German Glykol
- Glykolany aliphatic diol
Greek γλυκόλη
- γλυκόλη (glykóli)any aliphatic diol
Norwegian Bokmål glykol
- glykolany aliphatic diol
Polish glikol
- glikolany aliphatic diol
Swedish glykol
- glykolany aliphatic diol
Cite this entry
APA
glycol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glycol
MLA
“glycol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glycol. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glycol,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glycol.
Source: glycol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.