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Glite Dictionary
ethylene glycol

ethylene glycol

3 7.0
A sweet colorless poisonous liquid used in car antifreeze and to dissolve other substances
  • noun
  • /ˈɛθɪlin ˈɡaɪkɔl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : glicol etileno
  • Ethylene glycol is commonly used in antifreeze to prevent vehicles from freezing in cold weather.
  • ethylene glycol antifreeze
  • ethylene glycol poisoning

Examples

  • Exposure to high amounts of some common frack-fluid chemicals, like ethylene glycol (a key antifreeze ingredient), has been linked to serious health problems, such as kidney, heart, and nervous system damage.

    Blog text (23)

  • Doctors discovered ethylene glycol in her blood, indicating poisoning from antifreeze.

  • The toxic effects of ethylene glycol were evident in the patient's symptoms.

Synonyms

ethanediol
vsethylene glycol
  • Specialized
9.9

A sweet, clear, poisonous liquid people put in car radiators to stop engines freezing and to dissolve other substances

is the same substance but stresses a syrupy texture

Surface Forms

ethylene glycol singular
ethylene glycols plural

Morphology

ethylene + glycol

The term is a straightforward chemical noun–noun composition: 'glycol' denotes a dihydric alcohol (commonly an antifreeze) and 'ethylene' specifies the hydrocarbon from which it is derived, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is the glycol derived from ethylene (a sweet, poisonous liquid used as antifreeze/solvent). Although technical, the formation is compositional and follows regular chemical naming patterns found across languages, making the meaning recoverable from the parts.

Etymology

Ethylene glycol gets its name from two parts: ethylene, a simple chemical part, and glycol, a word used for 'sweet' liquids. So the name gives a clear picture: ethylene glycol is a syrupy, 'sweet' liquid used as antifreeze and a solvent, and that sweetness helps explain why it is poisonous if swallowed.