methanol
/ˈmɛθənɒl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.98 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the preparation of methylated spirit.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Eight staff members of a backpacker hostel in Laos have been detained by local authorities as they investigate the deaths of six foreign tourists from suspected methanol poisoning, according to state-affiliated media in the Southeast Asian country."
Etymology
From methane + -ol. French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting its origins, "alcohol made from wood (substance)".