propane

Etymology

It is formed from English prop- + -ane,^[2][3][4] after German Propan, the name that the chemist A. W. Hofmann gave the gas in 1866.^[2] The OED takes the first element from propyl,^[2] while Etymonline and most other dictionaries take it from propionic acid,^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]} and Klein explains the word as shortened from propyl and methane.^[11] Propionic is from French propionique, coined in 1847,^[2][5] from Ancient Greek προ- (pro-, “before, forward”) and πίων (píōn, “fat”), because propionic acid was the first in the series of acids to form fatty compounds.^[2][5] The OED compares propane, recorded from 1869 or earlier,^[2] and Merriam-Webster classes the word as International Scientific Vocabulary.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The gas: 1867, in a paper by A. W. Hofmann in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.^[2][3] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to 1866.^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

The gas was formerly also called propyl,^[2] and Dictionary.com gives dimethylmethane as another name.^[10]

Timeline

• 1866 – Propan, the German name, in Hofmann's report to the Berlin Academy.^[2]
• 1867 – propane, the gas, in English.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to 1866.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A colourless, flammable gas, an alkane with the formula C3H8, found in natural gas and petroleum and used, usually liquefied, as a fuel: The camping stove runs on propane.^[6][3][2][8]

Word family

• cyclopropane
• propanol

Related words

• propyl
• propionic acid
• methane

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.