formaldehyde

See also: formaldéhyde

English

Structure diagram of formaldehyde

Etymology

Etymology tree

English form(yl)

Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor.

Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor.

Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl)

Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor.

Latin alcoholder.

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin de-der.

Proto-Indo-European *wed-

Proto-Indo-European *-r̥

Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥

Proto-Hellenic *údōr

Ancient Greek ῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)

Ancient Greek ῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)der.

German Aldehydbor.

English aldehyde

English formaldehyde

From form(yl) + aldehyde.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɔː(ɹ)ˈmældɪhaɪd/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Hyphenation: for‧mal‧de‧hyde

Noun

formaldehyde (countable and uncountable, plural formaldehydes)

(organic chemistry) The simplest aldehyde, HCHO, a colourless gas that has many industrial applications; it dissolves in water to give formol (10%) and formalin.
- 2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN:
  The shark chosen to replace the original was injected with 224 gallons of formaldehyde, ten times the amount used on the first shark and in a stronger concentration.
- 2024 March 19, Maeve McClenaghan, “Damien Hirst formaldehyde animal works dated to 1990s were made in 2017”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:
  Back in 2006, Hirst found himself at the centre of a different debate arising out of the need to refurbish or update formaldehyde pieces that are prone to decay. It related to the piece that made him famous: the formaldehyde shark The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), which had been bought by the US hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen for $8m.

Synonyms

(HCHO): E240 (when used as a preservative), methanal (IUPAC name)

Hypernyms

(organic compound): aldehyde, volatile organic compound

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

the organic compound HCHO

Belarusian: фармальдэгі́д m (farmalʹdehíd)
Catalan: formaldehid (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 甲醛 (gaap³ cyun⁴), 蟻醛 / 蚁醛 (ngai⁵ cyun⁴)

Mandarin: 甲醛 (zh) (jiǎquán), 蟻醛 / 蚁醛 (zh) (yǐquán)
Czech: formaldehyd (cs) m
Danish: formaldehyd c
Dutch: formaldehyde (nl)
Esperanto: formaldehido
Finnish: formaldehydi (fi)
French: formaldéhyde (fr) m
German: Formaldehyd (de) m
Greek: φορμαλδεΰδη (el) f (formaldeÿ́di)
Hebrew: פורמלין (he) m (formalín)
Hindi: वम्रसुव्युद (vamrasuvyud)
Hungarian: formaldehid (hu)
Ido: formaldehido (io), metanalo (io)
Indonesian: formaldehida
Italian: formaldeide (it)
Japanese: ホルムアルデヒド (ja) (horumuarudehido)
Korean: 폼알데하이드 (pomaldehaideu)
Latvian: formaldehīds m
Lithuanian: formaldehidas
Malay: formaldehid, metanal
Persian: فرمالدئید (fa) (formâlde'id), فرمالدهید (formâldehid)
Polish: aldehyd mrówkowy m, formaldehyd (pl) m, metanal m
Portuguese: formaldeído (pt) m
Romanian: formaldehidă (ro) f
Russian: формальдеги́д (ru) m (formalʹdɛgíd)
Spanish: formaldehído (es)
Swedish: formaldehyd (sv) c
Thai: ฟอร์มาลดีไฮด์ (th)
Turkish: formaldehit (tr)
Ukrainian: формальдегі́д m (formalʹdehíd)
Vietnamese: fomanđêhít

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} Формалдехид (Formaldehid)
Estonian: ^{(please verify)} formaldehüüd
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} formaldehida
Latin: ^{(please verify)} methanal
Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} formaldehidas
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} formaldehyd
Persian: ^{(please verify)} فرمالدهید
Sundanese: ^{(please verify)} formaldehida
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} formaldehyd (sv)
Thai: ^{(please verify)} ฟอร์มาลดีไฮด์ (th)