English Explanatory Dictionary

propionic acid

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The compound with the formula CH₃CH₂COOH, a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with a pungent odor.

Word forms

propionic acid

Etymology

From French acide propionique, coined by chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas, from Ancient Greek πρῶτος (prôtos) ("first") and πίων (píōn) ("fat"), because it was the smallest carboxylic acid that exhibited the properties of the other fatty acids, such as producing an oily layer when salted out of water and having a soapy potassium salt.

Synonyms

propanoic acid E280 when used as a preservative

Derived words

ibuprofen isobutylphenyl propionic acid propionate The widely used prop- prefix
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary