Definitions

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

  • adjective Relating to or being a hydrocarbon unit, C2H5, that can occur as a substituent in an organic compound or as an ion or radical.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun C2H5. The radical of ordinary alcohol and ether. It has never been obtained in the free state. Alcohol is the hydrate of ethyl.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A monatomic, hydrocarbon radical, C2H5 of the paraffin series, forming the essential radical of ethane, and of common alcohol and ether.
  • noun (Chem.) See Aldehyde.

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

  • noun organic chemistry The univalent hydrocarbon radical, C2H5, formally derived from ethane by the loss of a hydrogen atom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the univalent hydrocarbon radical C2H5 derived from ethane by the removal of one hydrogen atom

Etymologies

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

[eth(er) + –yl.]

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Examples

  • Not all alcohol-based hand cleansers contain ethyl alcohol, as this hospital case points out (also requires subscription):

    Medpundit 2007

  • The liquid we call ethyl alcohol (C2H6O) is very potent.

    unknown title 2009

  • The liquid we call ethyl alcohol (C2H6O) is very potent.

    unknown title 2009

  • The liquid we call ethyl alcohol (C2H6O) is very potent.

    unknown title 2009

  • The liquid we call ethyl alcohol (C2H6O) is very potent.

    unknown title 2009

  • The liquid we call ethyl alcohol (C2H6O) is very potent.

    unknown title 2009

  • The type of mercury used in vaccines, called ethyl mercury, has been found to be less toxic in humans than the methyl mercury you get from environmental sources eating certain fish, for example.

    Flu vaccine FAQ: Mercury and flu vaccines 2009

  • Actually, astronomers who were recently sifting through thousands of signals from Sagittarius B2, a big dust cloud at the center of our galaxy, found a substance there called ethyl formate, which is the chemical responsible for the flavor of raspberries, and the smell of rum, the drink popular with pirates.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • Actually, astronomers who were recently sifting through thousands of signals from Sagittarius B2, a big dust cloud at the center of our galaxy, found a substance there called ethyl formate, which is the chemical responsible for the flavor of raspberries, and the smell of rum, the drink popular with pirates.

    The Gates John Connolly 2009

  • The type of mercury used in vaccines, called ethyl mercury, has been found to be less toxic in humans than the methyl mercury you get from environmental sources (eating certain fish, for example).

    Flu vaccine FAQ: Mercury and flu vaccines 2009

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