Standard Lemma guide

methyl

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

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: mĕʹthĭl
Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɛθaɪl/
Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmɛθɪl/
Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmiːθaɪl/
Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmiːθɪl/
Canada, US: /ˈmɛθəl/
Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛθɪl
CMU ARPABET: M EH1 TH AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

noun

Meaning 1

The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 2

the univalent radical CH3- derived from methane

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: methyl group, methyl radical

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: alkyl, alkyl group, alkyl radical

Narrower terms: aminomethane, hydroxymethyl

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *médhu Proto-Hellenic *méthu Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu) Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.? Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der. German -yl German Methylbor. English methyl Borrowed from German Methyl; compare French méthyle. French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting its origins, "alcohol made from wood (substance)". The term "methyl" was derived in about 1840 by back-formation from "methylene", and was then applied to describe "methyl alcohol".

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Abkhaz: амети́л (ametʼíl) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Bulgarian: метил (metil) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Catalan: metil — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Chinese Cantonese: 甲基 (gaap3 gei1) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Chinese Mandarin: 甲基 (jiǎjī) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Czech: metyl — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Danish: metyl — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
French: méthyle — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Galician: metilo — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
German: Methyl — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Greek: μεθύλιο (methýlio) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Hindi: मेथिल (methil) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Italian: metile — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Italian: metilico — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Japanese: メチル (mechiru) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Malay: metil — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Polish: metyl — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Portuguese: metilo — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Portuguese: metila — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Romanian: metil — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Russian: мети́л (metíl) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Spanish: metilo — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Swedish: metyl — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3
Ukrainian: мети́л (metýl) — univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH3

Word forms

Inflections and variants

methyls — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium, 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-methyl-2-propenoic acid, acetoxymethyl, acetylmethylcarbinol, alclometasone, allylmercaptomethylpenicillin, aminomethyl, amoxapine, azamethonium, azidomethyl, azinphos-methyl, bemesetron, bethanechol, bimethyl, bromomethyl, carbamidomethyl, carboxymethyl, cefpirome, cefteram, chlorodimethylphosphine, chloromethyl, cimetropium, cyanomethyl, cyclomethycaine, demethylation, demethylimination, desmethyl, dimethyl, dimethylaminomethyl, dimethylaniline, dimethylarsenide, dimethylarsinate, dimethylbenzanthracene, dimethylhydrazine, dimethylphenol, dimethylsilane, dimethyltransferase, emepronium, epimestrol, esmolol, ethyl methyl cellulose, flumazenil, glimepiride, guaimesal, halomethyl, halosulfuron-methyl, heptamethyl, hexamethyl, hexamethylphosphoramide, hydroxymethyl, hydroxymethylfurfural, hydroxymethylsulfonate, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, imazamethabenz-methyl, indometacin, iodomethyl, iomazenil, isobutylmethylxanthine, kresoxim-methyl, lormetazepam, mecamylamine, mechlorethamine, meclonazepam, mecysteine, medrogestone, medroxyprogesterone, mefenamic, mefloquine, megestrol, meloxicam, menabitan, menadione, menaquinone, menitrazepam, meperidine, mephenytoin, mepivacaine, meprobamate, meprylcaine, mestanolone, mesuximide, metazocine, methacholine, metharbital, methene, methionine, metho-, methohexital, methoxyl, methoxymethyl, methyl acetate, methylacetylene, methyl acrylate, methyladenine, methylal, methyl alcohol, methylamine, methylamino, methylammonium, methylamphetamine, methylarginine, methylase, methylate, methylation, methylatropine, methylbenzene, methyl blue, methyl bromide, methylcarbamate, methylcarbinol, methyl cellulose, methyl chloride, methyl chloroform, methylchloroform, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylcobalamin, methyl cyanide, methylcyclopentadiene, methylcytosine, methyldesorphine, methyldigoxin, methyldihydromorphine, methyldopa, methylecgonidine, methylergometrine, methylergonovine, methylerythritol, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, methyl fluoride, methyl formate, methylglyoxal, methyl group, methylguanine, methylhistamine, methylhistidine, methyl hydrate, methyl hydroxide, methylic, methylimidazole, methylimidazolium, methylindole, methylindolizidine, methyl iodide, methyl isobutyl ketone, methylisocyanate, methylisocyanide, methylisoxazole, methyl jasmonate, methylketol, methyllanthionine, methyllithium, methyllorazepam, methyllysine, methylmagnesium, methylmalonic, methylmalonic acid, methyl mercaptan, methyl mercury, methylmercury, methyl methacrylate, methylmethaqualone, methyl methyacrylate, methylmorphine, methylnaltrexone, methylome, methyl orange, methylosome, methylotroph, methylotrophic, methylparaben, methyl para-hydroxybenzoate, methyl paraoxon, methyl parathion, methylphenethylamine, methylphenobarbital, methylpolysiloxane, methylpotassium, methylprogesterone, methylpurine, methylpyridine, methyl radical, methyl rubber, methyl salicylate, methylscopolamine, methylserotonin, methylsiloxane, methylsodium, methylsulfate, methylsulfenamide, methylsulfonylmethane, methylsulphonylmethane, methyl t-butyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether, methyl tertiary butyl ether, methyltetrahydrofolate, methylthioninium, methylthiouracil, methylthiourea, methyltransferase, methyltyramine, methyltyrosine, methylumbelliferone, methylurethane, methyl vinyl ketone, methyl violet, methylxanthine, meticillin, metitepine, metrifonate, metronidazole, metsulfuron-methyl, mexazolam, mexiletine, miloxacin, milrinone, mirtazapine, misoprostol, monomethyl, monomethylhydrazine, nifurtimox, nimetazepam, nitromethyl, N-methylleucine, N-methylnipecotic acid, N-methylphenylalanine, N-methylvaline, norgestomet, octamethyl, oxymetazoline, parathion methyl, pentamethyl, permethyl, phenylmethyl, pirimiphos-methyl, polymethyl, promegestone, sarmazenil, sumarotene, taurinomethyl, temazepam, tetramethyl, tetramethylcyclopropane, tetramethylethylenediamine, timoprazole, tolclofos-methyl, triarylmethyl, trichloromethyl, trihydroxymethylanthraquinone, trimethyl, trimethylalkane, trimethylhydroquinone, trimethylphenylammonium, trimethylstannane, zomebazam

Related: none provided

Semantic map

Other relationships

Hypernyms: alkyl, alkyl group, alkyl radical

Hyponyms: aminomethane, hydroxymethyl

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

methyl in complete knowledge articles