Standard Lemma guide

ethene

noun · 3 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛθiːn/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈiːθiːn/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈɛθin/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˈiθin/
  • California: Oakland Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈeθiːn/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈiːθiːn/
  • rhymes with -ɛθiːn
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 TH IY2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The organic chemical compound ethylene. The simplest alkene, a colorless gaseous (at room temperature and pressure) hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C2H4

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: IUPAC, countable, 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 alkene derived from ethylene

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, 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

3

noun

Meaning 3

a flammable colorless gaseous alkene; obtained from petroleum and natural gas and used in manufacturing many other chemicals; sometimes used as an anesthetic

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ethylene

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: alkene, olefine, olefin, gas

Narrower terms: trichloroethylene, trichloroethane, TCE

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.