Etymology
The term ethanol was invented 1838, modeled on German äthyl (Liebig), from Greek aither (see ether) + hyle "stuff.". Ether in late 14c. meant "upper regions of space," from Old French ether and directly from Latin aether "the upper pure, bright air," from Greek aither "upper air; bright, purer air; the sky," from aithein "to burn, shine," from PIE root *aidh- "to burn" (see edifice). The current Arabic name for alcohol in The Qur'an, in verse 37:47, uses the word الغول al-ġawl —properly meaning "spirit" or "demon"—with the sense "the thing that gives the wine its headiness."
Ethanol is the systematic name defined by the IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry for a molecule with two carbon atoms (prefix "eth-"), having a single bond between them (suffix "-ane"), and an attached -OH group (suffix "-ol").
Read more about this topic: Ethanol Purification
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)