Also 9 ethyle. [f. ETH-ER. + -YL = Gr. ὔλη matter. The name was originally given by Berzelius, whose spelling ethule was at first adopted in Eng.] The hypothetical radical of the dicarbon series (C2 H5), the base of ordinary alcohol, common ether, and acetic acid, and of a large series of organic compounds, into the names of which the word enters attributively, as Ethyl hydride C2H6 (=C2H5H), Ethyl chloride C2H5Cl, Ethyl iodide C2H5I, Ethyl alcohol C2H6O.
Ethyl is sometimes denoted by the symbol E or (latterly) Et. Originally the name was used for what is now called DIETHYL (in mod. notation C4H10 or Et2); this was isolated by Frankland in 1849, but ethyl in its single-molecule form is known only in combination.
1840. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., I. 311. Mr. Boyè read a communication entitled ‘On the Perchlorate of the Oxide of Ethule.’
1850. Daubeny, Atom. Th., vii. (ed. 2), 219. If we suppose then a body to exist, consisting of C4 H5 … it has been proposed to designate it by the term ethyle.
1862. Sir H. Holland, Ess. Mod. Chem., 453. Ethyl … the radical of the numerous class of ethers.
1869. Roscoe, Elem. Chem., 310. Ethyl alcohol, known as spirits of wine. Ibid. (1875), 295. Alcohol may be regarded as water in which one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by ethyl.
1877. Watts, Fownes’ Chem., II. 42. Whether we regard it [ethane] as ethyl-hydride … or as dimethyl … this arrangement remains the same. Ibid., II. 47. Ethane is formed … by the action of zinc and water on ethyl iodide.
Hence many derivatives, names of compounds containing ethyl, as Ethylamine, a compound (NH2C2H5) of the ammonia type in which one of the hydrogen atoms of ammonia is replaced by ethyl; called also ethyl-ammonia. Ethylate, a salt of the radical ethyl, in which ethyl takes the place of the oxygenated group in a metallic salt. Ethylene, the diatomic hydrocarbon or olefine of the ethyl series, C2H4; also known as Ethene, Olefiant gas, or Heavy Carburetted Hydrogen, an important constituent of coal gas. Ethylia, a synonym of Ethylamine; now disused. Ethylic a., of ethyl; = ETHYL, used attributively, as in Ethylic cyanate = Ethyl cyanate = Vinic cyanate.
1850. Daubeny, Atom. Th., viii. (ed. 2), 239. *Ethylamine … where it [1 atom of hydrogen] is replaced by ethyle.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, II. 309. Several alkaloïds existing in the animal and vegetable kingdom afford ethylamine on distillation with potash.
1864. Athenæum, No. 1937. 788/3. The *ethylate of acetyl.
1880. Med. Temp. Jrnl., July, 165. Report on the use of Ethylate of Sodium (Sodium Alcohol).
1869. Roscoe, Elem. Chem., 358. *Ethylene, known as olefiant gas, has already been mentioned.
1878. A. H. Green, Coal, vi. 207. One of the most important of these hydro-carbons is known as ethylene or ethene.
1881. Athenæum, 26 Feb., 303/1. By heating glycol with an excess of fuming hydrochloric acid in a sealed tube to 100°, the author has converted this substance into ethylene dichloride.
1873. Williamson, Chem. for Stud., 241. This remarkable base was called ethylamine by Würtz, its discoverer, but is now more commonly called *Ethylia.
1869. Eng. Mech., 26 Nov., 255/3. Circumstances lead the operator to suspect that hydro-carbon to be *ethylic hydride.
1873. Watts, Fownes’ Chem., 580. Ethylic ether is also called common ether, or simply ether.
