aromatic hydrocarbon
2
7.1
- noun
- /əˈrɑːməˌtɪk ˈhaɪdroʊˌkɑːrbən/
- Specialized
:
hidrocarburo aromático
- Nevertheless, eliminating plastics can help and would also reduce emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)
Examples
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Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been found in cooking fumes (Siegmann & Sattler, 1996, 1999).
Academic text (2004) -
Little attention is given to organic compounds in groundwater, even though industrial solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum products are widely used in industrial areas.
Academic text (1997) -
Concentrations of organic pollutants, such as petroleum hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are also declining.
Academic text (1990) -
The soil is showing elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have carcinogenic properties.
Academic text (2009) -
Exposure to volatile aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., benzene) results in respiratory distress and unconsciousness.
Academic text (2009) -
Toluene, which is often used in industrial solvents, is an aromatic hydrocarbon with a distinct smell.
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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are commonly produced during the incomplete combustion of organic material.
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Many scientists are studying aromatic hydrocarbons due to their implications in environmental pollution.
Synonyms
A chemical with one or more rings like benzene that often has a strong smell
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a transparent adjective+noun composition: combining 'aromatic' (benzene-like ring structure and properties) with 'hydrocarbon' (a compound of hydrogen and carbon) yields the meaning 'a hydrocarbon that is aromatic/contains benzene rings' directly from the parts. Scientific noun phrases like this are compositional and cross-linguistically regular, so a learner who knows the constituent definitions will readily infer the MWE meaning. (If a learner only knows the everyday sense of 'aromatic' = 'having a smell', they might be confused, but the assessment assumes knowledge of the given constituent meanings.)
Etymology
The term aromatic hydrocarbon comes from early chemists who called some substances aromatic because they had a strong 'smell' and called molecules hydrocarbon because they were 'made of hydrogen and carbon'. Many of those smelly molecules were noticed first, so today aromatic hydrocarbon means a hydrocarbon with a ring shape, and the word 'aromatic' is a memory hint to its old link to 'smell'.