Ester

//ˈɛstɚ// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carbon to another oxygen atom.

    "To produce a test material containing at least 75 percent omega-3 polyunsaturates, the menhaden triglycerides are transesterified to produce fatty acid ethyl esters. The esters are reacted with urea dissolved in hot ethanol and the solution is cooled overnight."

  2. 2
    organic compound formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name from Hebrew, alternative form of Esther.

Synonyms

All synonyms
alcoholanimal oilceratechemicaldrying oilessential oil

Example

More examples

"In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid."

Etymology

From German Ester, perhaps a contraction or abstraction of Essigäther (“ethyl acetate”), from Essig (“vinegar”) (from Latin acetum) and Äther (“ether”). See ether for more.

Related phrases

enamino esterhydroxy esterjojoba esterphosphite estersilicon esterdouble bondfunctional group

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