"mercaptan" meaning in English

See mercaptan in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /məˈkapt(ə)n/ [UK] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-mercaptan.wav Forms: mercaptans [plural]
Etymology: Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds. Etymology templates: {{bor+|en|de|Mercaptan}} Borrowed from German Mercaptan, {{der|en|da|mercaptan}} Danish mercaptan, {{coin|da|William Christopher Zeise|in=1832|nocap=1|nocat=1|occ=organic chemist}} coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832, {{af|la|mercurius|captans|alt1=mer(curius)|alt2=captan(s)|nocat=1|t1=mercury|t2=capturing}} mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} mercaptan (plural mercaptans)
  1. (chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R₁.S.R₂ ); they tend to be foul-smelling. When R₂ is a hydrogen atom, they are termed thiols or thioalcohols. Categories (topical): Chemistry, Mercury (element), Sulfur Derived forms: ethyl mercaptan, methyl mercaptan, phenyl mercaptan Related terms: mercapto Translations (sulphuric compound): sulfid [masculine] (Czech), sirník [masculine, obsolete] (Czech), mercaptan [masculine] (French), Mercaptan [neuter] (German), mercaptano [masculine] (Italian), mercaptano [masculine] (Spanish)

Inflected forms

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        "2": "de",
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  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Sulfur",
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      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "ethyl mercaptan"
        },
        {
          "word": "methyl mercaptan"
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        {
          "word": "phenyl mercaptan"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2022 April 25, AlfredCamera, “Spotting Gas Leak Symptoms and Staying Safe”, in Home Security Expert:",
          "text": "Though this might come as a surprise, gas actually has no odor; gas companies are obligated to odorize it to make it safer for use in homes.\nMercaptan, a harmless chemical, is added to create the distinct smell in both natural gas (methane) and liquid petroleum gas (propane, butane).",
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      ],
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        [
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        ],
        [
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        [
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          "thiol"
        ],
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        "(chemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds of sulphur, ( R₁.S.R₂ ); they tend to be foul-smelling. When R₂ is a hydrogen atom, they are termed thiols or thioalcohols."
      ],
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          "sense": "sulphuric compound",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "sulfid"
        },
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          "code": "cs",
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          "sense": "sulphuric compound",
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          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "mercaptan"
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          "sense": "sulphuric compound",
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          ],
          "word": "Mercaptan"
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          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "mercaptano"
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          "code": "es",
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          "sense": "sulphuric compound",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "mercaptano"
        }
      ]
    }
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    }
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  "word": "mercaptan"
}
{
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      "word": "ethyl mercaptan"
    },
    {
      "word": "methyl mercaptan"
    },
    {
      "word": "phenyl mercaptan"
    }
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from German Mercaptan, from Danish mercaptan; coined by organic chemist William Christopher Zeise in 1832 from mer(curius) (“mercury”) + captan(s) (“capturing”), because the thiolate group bonds very strongly with mercury compounds.",
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      ],
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        [
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        ],
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        ],
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      ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sulfid"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "word": "sirník"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "mercaptan"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Mercaptan"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "mercaptano"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "sulphuric compound",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "mercaptano"
    }
  ],
  "word": "mercaptan"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-31 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (bcd5c38 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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