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ONLINE ETYMOLOGY
DICTIONARY:
- octane
(n.)
- hydrocarbon of the methane series,
1872, coined from octo- (see octa-)
+ -ane;
so called because it has eight carbon atoms. A fuel's octane
rating, in reference to its anti-knocking quality, is attested from
1932.
- octa-
- before vowels oct-, word-forming
element meaning "eight," from Gk. okta-, okt-, from PIE
*okto(u) "eight" (see eight).
The variant form octo- often appears in words taken from Latin, but
the Greek form is said to be the more common in English.
- -ane
- word-forming element in chemical use, indicating a chain of carbon
atoms with no double bonds, proposed 1866 by German chemist August
Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892) to go with -ene,
-ine
(2), -one.
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