Alkylate

/ˈælkɪˌleɪt/ verb

To introduce an alkyl group into a molecule, a chemical reaction process used to modify compounds in pharmaceuticals, fuels, and industrial chemicals.

Formed from 'alkyl' plus the chemical verb suffix '-ate', following systematic chemistry nomenclature for describing reactions. Became standard in 20th-century chemistry.

📖 Full word page — etymology, 47 translations, audio 🔑 Get Free API Key — 50 lookups/day 📚 Read the Docs — integrate Word Orb