Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mercaptan

/mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.73 in modern English

Syllables
mer-cap-tan
IPA
/mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R-SH ) where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. They tend to be foul-smelling. They are also termed thiols or thioalcohols.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/
  • British English: /məˈkapt(ə)n/

Inflected Forms

mercaptans (plural)

Derived Forms

mercaptoundecanoic mercapturic polymercaptan

Phrases

ethyl mercaptan methyl mercaptan phenyl mercaptan

Frequently Paired Words

mercapto sulfide organosulfide

Rhymes With

captain

Questions

How do you pronounce mercaptan?
The recorded pronunciation is /mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/.
What does mercaptan mean?
Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R-SH ) where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. They tend to be foul-smelling. They are also termed thiols or thioalcohols.
Where does mercaptan come from?
It is traced to Danish.

How to pronounce mercaptan

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mercaptan”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mɚˈkæpt(ə)n/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mercaptan”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mercaptan” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.