Adjacent Words

Naphtha definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NAPHTHA, n. [from nafata, to push out, as pustules, to throw out, to boil, to be angry. In Ambaric, neft or nepht, from this sense, signifies a gun or musket.]
1. An inflammable mineral substance of the bituminous kind, of a light brown or yellowish color, sharp taste, and incapable of decomposition. By long keeping it hardens into a substance resembling vegetable resin, and becomes black. It is as inflammable as ether. It is said to issue from the earth at Baku, in Persia, and to be received into cisterns.
2. Naphtha consists of carbon and hydrogen.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures; used chiefly as solvents

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, from Greek, of Iranian origin; akin to Persian neft naphtha Date: 1543 1. any of various volatile often flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures used chiefly as solvents and diluents 2. petroleum

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. an inflammable oil obtained by the dry distillation of organic substances such as coal, shale, or petroleum. Etymology: L f. Gk, = inflammable volatile liquid issuing from the earth, of Oriental origin

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Naphtha Naph"tha, n. [L. naphtha, Gr. ?????, fr.Ar. nafth, nifth.] 1. (Chem.) The complex mixture of volatile, liquid, inflammable hydrocarbons, occurring naturally, and usually called crude petroleum, mineral oil, or rock oil. Specifically: That portion of the distillate obtained in the refinement of petroleum which is intermediate between the lighter gasoline and the heavier benzine, and has a specific gravity of about 0.7, -- used as a solvent for varnishes, as a carburetant, illuminant, etc. 2. (Chem.) One of several volatile inflammable liquids obtained by the distillation of certain carbonaceous materials and resembling the naphtha from petroleum; as, Boghead naphtha, from Boghead coal (obtained at Boghead, Scotland); crude naphtha, or light oil, from coal tar; wood naphtha, from wood, etc. Note: This term was applied by the earlier chemical writers to a number of volatile, strong smelling, inflammable liquids, chiefly belonging to the ethers, as the sulphate, nitrate, or acetate of ethyl. --Watts. Naphtha vitrioli [NL., naphtha of vitriol] (Old Chem.), common ethyl ether; -- formerly called sulphuric ether. See Ether.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Rock oil, mineral oil, stone oil.