protyle

British  

/ ˈprəʊtɪl, ˈprəʊtaɪl /

noun

1. a hypothetical primitive substance from which the chemical elements were supposed to have been formed

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Etymology

Origin of protyle

C19: from Greek prōt- _proto- + hylē substance

Example Sentences

This result he considered to be due, not to any removal of impurities, but to an actual splitting-up of the yttrium molecule into its constituents, and he ventured to draw the provisional conclusion that the so-called simple bodies are in reality compound molecules, at the same time suggesting that all the elements have been produced by a process of evolution from one primordial stuff or “protyle.”

From Project Gutenberg

Sooner or later it will have dissolved into the 'formless mist' of protyle and 'the hour hand of eternity will have completed one revolution.'

From Project Gutenberg

Reasoning from the recently discovered law of periodicity among the elements, he discusses the possibility of their being formed from the cooling of one primitive form of matter, which he calls protyle.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Crookes' researches have led the more advanced chemists to regard the atoms as compound, as a more or less complex aggregation of protyle.

From Project Gutenberg

This Earth is, in one sense, the Protyle for which the most advanced of our modern Chemists are searching as the One Mother Element.

From Project Gutenberg