different between camphor vs naphthalene

English

Etymology

From Old French camphore or Medieval Latin camphora, from Arabic ???????? (k?f?r), via an Austronesian language such as Malay kapur from Sanskrit ?????? (karp?ra). It is possible that the Sanskrit term was borrowed from Malay rather than vice versa.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?kæmf?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kæmf?/

Noun

camphor (countable and uncountable, plural camphors)

1. (organic chemistry) A white transparent waxy crystalline isoprenoid ketone, 1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-one, with a strong pungent odour, used in pharmacy.
   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X,

     I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odour of camphor was unmistakable. It struck me as singularly odd, that among the universal decay, this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousand years.

Derived terms

• camphogen
• camphorimine
• camphory
• camphoryl
• camphorate
• camphorated
• camphoraceous
• camphrous
• camphor tree

Translations

English

Etymology

From naphtha +? -ene

Noun

naphthalene (usually uncountable, plural naphthalenes)

1. A white crystalline hydrocarbon manufactured from coal tar; used in mothballs.
2. (organic chemistry) An aromatic bicyclic hydrocarbon, C₁₀H₈; an acene containing two fused benzene rings.

Hypernyms

(2-ring aromatic hydrocarbon):

• acene

Coordinate terms

(2-ring aromatic hydrocarbon):

• benzene (1-ring acene)
• anthracene (3-ring acene)

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• naphthalene on Wikipedia.Wikipedia