chloral

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a pungent, colorless oily aldehyde, CCl3CHO, used to make chloral hydrate and other chemicals

   The chemist added water to chloral to produce chloral hydrate.

2. 2
   noun

   chloral hydrate, formerly used as a sedative or sleeping drug

   The physician warned that chloral was a powerful and potentially dangerous sleeping draught.

Coined in French as chloral, a blend based on chlore ("chlorine") and alcool ("alcohol"), because the compound was first obtained by chlorinating alcohol. The name chloral is also used loosely for its hydrate, once a common sedative.

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