amyl

[am-il, ey-mil]Chemistry

adjective

containing an amyl group; pentyl.

noun

an amyl group.

Origin of amyl

1840–50; < Greek ám(ylon) starch (see amylo-) + -yl, with haplology of am(yl)-yl

amyl-

variant of amylo-, especially before a vowel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for amyl

Contemporary Examples of amyl

With the president surrounded by “a fast Hollywood crowd,” someone offered him amyl nitrite, or “poppers.”
Intern's Memoir Details Affair With President Kennedy
Matthew DeLuca
February 7, 2012

Historical Examples of amyl

When we had crossed the valley of the river Amyl, Happiness smiled on us.
Beasts, Men and Gods
Ferdinand Ossendowski
Inhalations of nitrite of amyl are said to have been useful.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth
In alcohol and amyl alcohol it dissolves in almost every proportion.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth
As an antidote, nitrite of amyl has apparently been used with success.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection
Alexander Wynter Blyth
Remove the amyl alcohol and wash with water until it is neutral.
Detection of the Common Food Adulterants
Edwin M. Bruce

British Dictionary definitions for amyl

amyl

noun

(modifier, no longer in technical usage) of, consisting of, or containing any of eight isomeric forms of the monovalent group C 5 H 11 -amyl group or radical See also pentyl

Word Origin for amyl

C19: from Latin: amylum

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amyl

hydrocarbon radical, 1850, from Latin amylum, from Greek amylon "fine meal, starch," noun use of neuter of adjective amylos "not ground at the mill, ground by hand," from a-, privative prefix, "not" + myle "mill" (see mill (n.1)). So called because first obtained from the distilled spirits of potato or grain starch (though it also is obtained from other sources).

amyl in Medicine

amyl

[ăm′əl]

n.

The univalent organic radical, C5H11, occurring in many organic compounds in eight isomeric forms.pentyl

amyl in Science

amyl

[ăm′əl]

The radical C5H11, derived from pentane. Amyl occurs in eight isomeric forms. Also called pentyl