Oxyacetylene
/ˌɒk.siˈæs.ɪ.tiːn/noun
A mixture of oxygen and acetylene used to produce an extremely hot flame for welding and cutting metals.
Did you know?An oxyacetylene flame can reach roughly 3,500 °C, hot enough to melt many metals and historically transform how humans cut and join them.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ek-
“Sharp, pointed, or piercing; the ancient root behind Greek words for sharpness and acidity.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
oxys
“Sharp, pungent, or acid.”
1787
French
oxygène
““Acid-forming,” coined in Antoine Lavoisier’s chemical terminology from Greek oxys, “acid,” and -genēs, “forming.””
1790s
English
oxygen
“The chemical element named through the French term oxygène.”
1830s
English
acetyl
“A chemical group named from acetic, ultimately linked to Latin acetum, “vinegar.””
1860
English
acetylene
“A hydrocarbon name formed from acetyl plus the chemical suffix -ene; associated with its identification by Marcellin Berthelot.”
20th Century
English
oxyacetylene
“A technical compound term for the oxygen–acetylene mixture used in high-temperature flames for welding and cutting.”