NAPHTHA

naphtha

(noun) any of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures; used chiefly as solvents

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

naphtha (countable and uncountable, plural naphthas)

(dated) Naturally occurring liquid petroleum.

Any of a wide variety of aliphatic or aromatic liquid hydrocarbon mixtures distilled from petroleum or coal tar, especially as used in solvents or petrol.

Source: Wiktionary


Naph"tha, n. Etym: [L. naphtha, Gr. nafth, nifth.]

1. (Chem.)

Definition: The complex mixture of volatile, liquid, inflammable hydrocarbons, occurring naturally, and usually called crude petroleum, mineral oil, or rock oil. Specifically: That portion of the distillate obtained in the refinement of petroleum which is intermediate between the lighter gasoline and the heavier benzine, and has a specific gravity of about 0.7, -- used as a solvent for varnishes, as a carburetant, illuminant, etc.

2. (Chem.)

Definition: One of several volatile inflammable liquids obtained by the distillation of certain carbonaceous materials and resembling the naphtha from petroleum; as, Boghead naphtha, from Boghead coal (obtained at Boghead, Scotland); crude naphtha, or light oil, from coal tar; wood naphtha, from wood, etc.

Note: This term was applied by the earlier chemical writers to a number of volatile, strong smelling, inflammable liquids, chiefly belonging to the ethers, as the sulphate, nitrate, or acetate of ethyl. Watts. Naphtha vitrioli Etym: [NL., naphtha of vitriol] (Old Chem.), common ethyl ether; -- formerly called sulphuric ether. See Ether.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 December 2024

INTUITIVELY

(adverb) in an intuitive manner; “inventors seem to have chosen intuitively a combination of explosive and aggressive sounds as warning signals to be used on automobiles”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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