propane

UK/ˈpɹoʊpeɪn/US/ˈpɹoʊpeɪn/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,335 of 15,258neutral

Propane is a colourless gas sold in cylinders as fuel. A cylinder of propane.

It stays usable in cold weather where butane will not, which is why it is the winter and outdoor gas. Propane is heavier than air, so a leak collects at floor level rather than rising.

Definitions of propane

1nounpropaneA colourless gas sold in cylinders as fuel.B2+
“The propane ran the whole cottage for heating and cooking.”

propane is a fuel.

Where it comes from

Propane is formed from propionic acid plus the chemical ending -ane.

German
Propan
French
propionique
English, today
propane

Built from

πίων · Ancient Greek — fat

From clipping of propionic acid + -ane, from French propionique, from Ancient Greek πρό + πίων (“fat”). Analyzable as prop + ane, borrowing or German Propan.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

propane in the wild

Propylene glycol (IUPAC name: propane-1,2-diol) is a viscous, colorless liquid.
Propylene glycol
Varieties of LPG that are bought and sold include mixes that are mostly propane (C3H8), mostly butane, and, most commonly, mixes including both propane and butane.
Liquefied petroleum gas
In the northern hemisphere winter, the mixes contain more propane, while in summer, they contain more butane.
Liquefied petroleum gas
The explosions occurred at the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases propane facility, located near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue around 03:50 ET.
Toronto propane explosion
Liquefied petroleum gas is a mixture of propane and some butanes.
Butane

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

prop

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