What does "cresol" mean?

Any of the three isomeric phenols derived from toluene: ortho-, meta- or para-methylphenol.

Cresol

Common synonyms include: alcohol, antiseptic, disinfectant, hydroxytoluene, hydroxytoluene, hydroxytoulene.

//ˈkɹiːsɒl// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of the three isomeric phenols derived from toluene: ortho-, meta- or para-methylphenol.
2
any of three poisonous colorless isomeric phenols; derived from coal or wood tar; used as a disinfectant wordnet

From creosote + -ol, from Ancient Greek κρέας (kréas, “flesh”) + σωτήρ (sōtḗr, “preserver”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.