urethane

See also: Urethane and uréthane

English

Etymology

From French uréthane, coined (1833) by Jean Baptiste Dumas.

Noun

urethane (countable and uncountable, plural urethanes)

1. (organic chemistry, uncountable) A white crystalline organic compound, ethyl-carbamate, NH₂COOC₂H₅, used in the synthesis of other organic compounds.
2. (organic chemistry, countable) Any compound consisting of this general structure.
3. (informal) Polyurethane.
   • 2007, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, 4th Estate (2010), page 161:

     He doesn’t remember polishing off the bottle of slivovitz that stands empty on the scratched urethane surface of the oak-veneer tabletop, next to the wing chair.

Synonyms

• ethyl carbamate

Related terms

• polyurethane

Translations

organic compound

• Danish: uretan n
• German: Urethan (de) n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uretan n

  Nynorsk: uretan n