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169 results for: Ether

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Dictionary Entries (11 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
e·ther    Audio Help   [ee-ther] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.Also called diethyl ether, diethyl oxide, ethyl ether, ethyl oxide, sulfuric ether. Chemistry, Pharmacology. a colorless, highly volatile, flammable liquid, C4H10O, having an aromatic odor and sweet, burning taste, derived from ethyl alcohol by the action of sulfuric acid: used as a solvent and, formerly, as an inhalant anesthetic.
2.Chemistry. (formerly) one of a class of compounds in which two organic groups are attached directly to an oxygen atom, having the general formula ROR.
3.the upper regions of space; the clear sky; the heavens.
4.the medium supposed by the ancients to fill the upper regions of space.
5.Physics. a hypothetical substance supposed to occupy all space, postulated to account for the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through space.
Also, aether (for defs. 3–5).

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L aethér the upper air, pure air, ether < Gk aithr, akin to aíthein to glow, burn, OE ād funeral pyre, L aestus heat]

—Related forms
e·ther·ic    Audio Help   [i-ther-ik, i-theer-] Pronunciation Key, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  ether
Part of Speech:  noun
Synonyms:  air, anesthetic, atmosphere, compound, element, gas, sky, solvent, heavens, skies
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
Encyclopedia Articles (155 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


ether, any of a number of organic compounds whose molecules contain two hydrocarbon groups joined by single bonds to an oxygen atom. The most common of these compounds is ethyl ether, CH3CH2OCH2CH3, often called simply ether, a colorless, volatile liquid with a distinctive odor; its IUPAC name is ethoxyethane. Ethyl ether boils at 34.5°C; and is extremely flammable. It is insoluble in water but mixes with many organic solvents and is widely used as a solvent itself, e.g., for fats and oils. Its most familiar historical application is as an anesthetic. An ether such as ethyl ether in which both hydrocarbon groups are identical is said to be a simple, or symmetrical, ether. An ether in which the two groups differ (e.g., methyl ethyl ether, CH3OCH2CH3) is said to be a mixed, or unsymmetrical, ether. Ethers are often prepared commercially by heating an alcohol with sulfuric acid; the reaction is one of dehydration. In the laboratory ethers are often prepared by reaction of an alkyl halide with a sodium alkoxide (a method called the Williamson synthesis). Ethers are usually chemically unreactive but can be cleaved (broken apart) at high temperatures by concentrated hydrogen halides; initially an alkyl halide and an alcohol are formed. Epoxides are a special class of cyclic ethers. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
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