methanol
/ˈmɛθənɒl/noun
methanol is spelled M-E-T-H-A-N-O-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, methanol means “The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of methanol is methanols.
How many letters and syllables are in methanol?
| Letters | 8: M-E-T-H-A-N-O-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is methanol?
Methanol appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th 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 methanol?
- /ˈmɛθənɒl/
Methanol has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-methanol.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of methanol
- methanols plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does methanol mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the preparation of methylated spirit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Methanol in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH3OH:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | méthanol, alcool de bois |
| German | Methanol |
| Portuguese | metanol, álcool metílico |
| Spanish | metanol |
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 methanol come from?
From methane + -ol. French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting its origins, "alcohol made from wood (substance)".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).