Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A colorless fragrant liquid, C10H18O, obtained from citronella and certain other essential oils or produced synthetically and used in making perfumes, flavorings, and insect repellants.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A substance. CH2 = C(CH3) (CH2)3 CH(CH3)CH2CHO, found in citronella-oil, eucalyptus-oil, and lemon-oil. It boils at 205–208° C.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun organic chemistry The monoterpenoid aldehyde 3,7-dimethyloct-6-en-1-al responsible for the aroma of citronella oil

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[citronell(a) + –al.]

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Examples

  • Also the rose alcohol geraniol, citronellal, etc. which are what gives geranium its rosy characteristics can be played softly, depending on the context, and avoiding the potpourri impression that is so easily to fall into when working with geranium.

    Geranium, Soft and Pink Ayala Sender 2009

  • Also the rose alcohol geraniol, citronellal, etc. which are what gives geranium its rosy characteristics can be played softly, depending on the context, and avoiding the potpourri impression that is so easily to fall into when working with geranium.

    Archive 2009-07-01 Ayala Sender 2009

  • The aroma is complex: floral with a strong hint of lemon (likely owing to the citronellal terpine found as a constituent of the essential oil) and a black pepper-like overtone.

    Tigers & Strawberries » My Precious 2005

  • Lemon Balm Lemon or bee balm is an Old World species, Melissa officinalis, distinguished by its mixture of citrusy and floral terpenes citronellal and -ol, citral, geraniol.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • The spices are the small dried fruit rinds, which are aromatic with lemony citronellal and citronellol.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • Lemon Balm Lemon or bee balm is an Old World species, Melissa officinalis, distinguished by its mixture of citrusy and floral terpenes citronellal and -ol, citral, geraniol.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • The spices are the small dried fruit rinds, which are aromatic with lemony citronellal and citronellol.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • The aldehyde citronellal is converted by acetic anhydride into isopulegol acetate, so that this is also included in the determination of graniol in citronella oil.

    The Handbook of Soap Manufacture H. A. Appleton

  • The principal constituents of the oil are limonene and citral, together with small quantities of pinene, phellandrene, octyl and nonyl aldehydes, citronellal, geraniol, geranyl acetate, and the stearopten, citraptene.

    The Handbook of Soap Manufacture H. A. Appleton

  • The oil contains some 90 per cent. limonene, together with nonyl alcohol, d-linalol, d-terpineol, citral, citronellal, decyl aldehyde, and methyl anthranilate.

    The Handbook of Soap Manufacture H. A. Appleton

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