menthol

M3E1N1T1H4O1L1
/ˈmɛnθɒl/

noun

A cyclic monoterpene alcohol; the major component of the essential oil of peppermint; used in pharmaceutical preparations as an antitussive and antipruritic agent, as a nasal decongestant, and in menthol cigarettes.

OriginLatin mentha →
Less commonScrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmenthol (countable and uncountable, plural menthols)

plural menthols

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA cyclic monoterpene alcohol; the major component of the essential oil of peppermint; used in pharmaceutical preparations as an antitussive and antipruritic agent, as a nasal decongestant, and in menthol cigarettes.
  2. countableuncountableA menthol cigarette.

Origin

  1. Latinmentha“mint”
  2. Englishmenthol

From Latin mentha (“mint”) + -ol.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Chinese Mandarin 薄荷醇
  • 薄荷醇 (bòhé chún)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
Czech mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Danish mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Dutch menthol
  • mentholcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Esperanto mentolo
  • mentolocyclic monoterpene alcohol
Finnish mentoli
  • mentolicyclic monoterpene alcohol
German Menthol
  • Mentholcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Greek μινθόλη, μενθόλη
  • μινθόλη (minthóli)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
  • μενθόλη (menthóli)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
  • μεντόλ (mentól)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
Italian mentolo
  • mentolocyclic monoterpene alcohol
Japanese メントール, 薄荷脳
  • メントール (mentōru)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
  • 薄荷脳 (hakkanō)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
Norwegian Bokmål mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Polish mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Portuguese mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Romanian mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Russian менто́л
  • менто́л (mentól)cyclic monoterpene alcohol
Spanish mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Swedish mentol
  • mentolcyclic monoterpene alcohol
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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