Where does “acetonitrile” come from?
Acetonitrile comes from English acetonitrile, a compound word formed from acetic acid and the chemical suffix nitrile, which derives from French nitrile.
acetonitrile (English): The simplest organic cyanide or nitrile, CHCN,...
Definitions
- The simplest organic cyanide or nitrile, CHCN,...
Ancestry of “acetonitrile”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | aceto- | Containing a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl... |
| 2 | Latin | acētum | — |
| 3 | French | -ate | -ate |
| 4 | Latin | -ātus | — |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | — |