Xylene

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈzaɪliːn/

Origin

From Ancient Greek ξύλον (ksulon, "wood") + -ene.

Full definition of xylene

Noun

1. (chemistry) Any of a group of three isomeric aromatic hydrocarbons, di-methyl-benzene, found in coal and wood tar.
• 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 262:... proceeding, desperately, from such opiated catarrh preparations as Collis Brown's Mixture on to cocainized brain tonics, cigarettes soaked in absinthe, xylene in unventilated rooms, and so on ....