noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The divalent group –CH₂– in which the free valencies are part of single bonds. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the bivalent radical CH2 derived from methane wordnet
3. 3
   The same group, present as a repeating unit, in aliphatic compounds with names such as hexamethylenediamine. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   The unstable carbene :CH₂ countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

methanolmethenemethenemethyl alcoholmethylene groupmethylene group

Etymology

French méthylène, from Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood”). By surface analysis, meth- + -ylene.

Related phrases

medronic acidmethylene bluemethylene chloridemethylene dichloridemethylene diphosphonatemethylene-bis-ortho-chloroanilinenew methylenepolymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanatesingle bond

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