Standard Lemma guide

biphenyl

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • CMU ARPABET: B IH1 F AH0 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A colourless solid hydrocarbon, C12H10, consisting of two benzene rings linked together by a single bond.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any substituted or otherwise altered version of biphenyl, such as PCBs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

Examples

  • halogenated biphenyls

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Italic *dwi- Latin bi-bor. English bi- Proto-Indo-European *bheh2-der. Proto-Hellenic *pháňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō)der. French phéno- Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.? Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der. French -yle French phénylebor. English phenyl English biphenyl From bi- + phenyl.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: bifenil — organic compound
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聯苯 /联苯 (liánběn) — organic compound
  • Finnish: bifenyyli — organic compound
  • French: biphényle — organic compound
  • German: Biphenyl — organic compound
  • Hungarian: bifenil — organic compound
  • Italian: bifenile — organic compound
  • Japanese: ビフェニル (bifeniru) — organic compound
  • Polish: bifenyl — organic compound
  • Spanish: bifenilo — organic compound