ethane

/ˈɛθeɪn/

//ˈɛθeɪn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ethane" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ethane” is uncommon English (frequency #61,452 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,452
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₂H₆, gaseous at normal temperatures and pressures, being a constituent of natural gas.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ethane · ethane · English

ethane · rank #61,452 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,452
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH Eusebio

Nearest frequency peer: Eusebio (+2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “ethane”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ethane” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ethane
PropertyValue
Headwordethane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛθeɪn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#61,452
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ethane” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ethanefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Eusebio” (#61,454), “eventing” (#61,455), “equivocal” (#61,448). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “ethane” is #61,452. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ethane is uncommon English at frequency #61,452 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɛθeɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

ethane has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From eth- + -ane. The correct English form is ethane, spelled E-T-H-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₂H₆, gaseous at normal temperatures and pressures, being a constituent of natural gas.
  2. 2
    The same compound, subjected to modification by replacing one or more of the hydrogen atoms with other radicals.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ethane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. chlorinated ethanes; halogenated ethanes
  2. The dissociation constants for ethanes in which the two halves of the molecule are different are not always close to the mean of the dissociation constants of the corresponding symmetrical ethanes.

Etymology

From eth- + -ane.

This word in other languages

etano(Español)éthane(Français)Ethan(Deutsch)etano(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ethane"?
"ethane" is spelled E-T-H-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛθeɪn/.
What does "ethane" mean?
As a noun, "ethane" means: An aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₂H₆, gaseous at normal temperatures and pressures, being a constituent of natural gas.
How do you pronounce "ethane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ethane" is /ˈɛθeɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ethane"?
From eth- + -ane. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ethane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

florin#61,474drench#61,426Dothan#61,425Gentoo#61,490

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list