alkyl
/ˈælkaɪl/noun
alkyl is spelled A-L-K-Y-L: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, alkyl means “Any of a series of univalent radicals of the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₁ derived from aliphatic hydrocarbons. In other words, an alkane minus one…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of alkyl is alkyls.
How many letters and syllables are in alkyl?
| Letters | 5: A-L-K-Y-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is alkyl?
Alkyl appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alkyl?
- /ˈælkaɪl/
- /ˈælkɪl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-alkyl.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of alkyl
- alkyls plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does alkyl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of a series of univalent radicals of the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₁ derived from aliphatic hydrocarbons. In other words, an alkane minus one hydrogen atom.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alkyl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense univalent radical of the general formula CnH2n+1:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does alkyl come from?
From alc(ohol) + -yl.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).