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Questions tagged [etymology]

For questions relating to the etymology of chemistry terms. Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Consider using the terminology tag instead.

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why is the suffix of alcohols -ol but not -al?

According to the IUPAC nomenclature, we put the suffix “-ol” to alcohols while we put the suffix “-al” to aldehydes. This will be related to some etymology issues. I presume “-ol” and “-al” are ...
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