Naphtha
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Naturally occurring liquid petroleum. countable, dated, uncountable
- 2 any of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures; used chiefly as solvents wordnet
- 3 Any of a wide variety of aliphatic or aromatic liquid hydrocarbon mixtures distilled from petroleum or coal tar, especially as used in solvents or petrol. countable, uncountable
"The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one."
Example
More examples"The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one."
Etymology
Etymology tree Akkadian napṭumbor.? Old Persian *naftahbor. Ancient Greek νάφθα (náphtha)bor. Latin naphthabor. English naphtha From Latin naphtha, from Ancient Greek νάφθα (náphtha, “naphtha”), from Old Persian *naftah, probably borrowed or assimilated from Akkadian 𒉌𒆳𒊏 (napṭu, “naphtha”) . The Greek mediation is reflected in the spelling – ‘ph’ and ‘th’ (from ‘φ’ and ‘θ’).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.