Phrase guide

methanoic acid

noun · 1 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The simplest carboxylic acid, HCOOH, a colorless, corrosive liquid with a sharp odor; it is present in the stings of ants, bees and nettles, and is prepared industrially by oxidation of methanol or formaldehyde; it has some industrial uses, and its esters, the methanoates, are used in perfumes.

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

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 甲酸 (gaap3 syun1) — formic acid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 甲酸 (jiǎsuān) — formic acid
  • Danish: methansyre — formic acid
  • Finnish: metaanihappo — formic acid
  • French: acide méthanoïque — formic acid
  • German: Methansäure — formic acid
  • Polish: kwas mrówkowy — formic acid
  • Spanish: ácido metanoico — formic acid
  • Swedish: metansyra — formic acid
  • Welsh: asid methanöig — formic acid