methylene
/ˈmɛθɪliːn/noun
methylene is spelled M-E-T-H-Y-L-E-N-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,179th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, methylene means “The divalent group –CH₂– in which the free valencies are part of single bonds” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of methylene is methylenes.
How many letters and syllables are in methylene?
| Letters | 9: M-E-T-H-Y-L-E-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 62,179th 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 methylene?
Methylene appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,179th 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 methylene?
- /ˈmɛθɪliːn/
Methylene 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-methylene.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of methylene
- methylenes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does methylene mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The divalent group –CH₂– in which the free valencies are part of single bonds.
- 2
The same group, present as a repeating unit, in aliphatic compounds with names such as hexamethylenediamine.
- 3
The unstable carbene :CH₂
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Methylene in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense divalent radical:
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 methylene come from?
French méthylène, from Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood”). By surface analysis, meth- + -ylene.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).