Butane
//ˈbjuːteɪn// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A hydrocarbon (either of the two isomers of C₄H₁₀, n-butane and 2-methylpropane) found in gaseous petroleum fractions. countable, uncountable
- 2 occurs in natural gas; used in the manufacture of rubber and fuels wordnet
- 3 The n-butane isomer only. uncountable
Example
More examples"A butane cylinder weighs 35 kg."
Etymology
PIE word *gʷṓws IUPAC nomenclature, from but- (“four carbon prefix”) + -ane (“alkane suffix”), the former is derived from the same stem as the foul-smelling carboxylic acid liberated in rancid butter, "butyric acid", hence cognate with butter.
Related phrases
More for "butane"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.