ester

Etymology

From German Ester, perhaps a contraction or abstraction of Essigäther (“ethyl acetate”), from Essig (“vinegar”) (from Latin acetum) and Äther (“ether”). See ether for more.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɛstɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɛstə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛstə(ɹ)
• Homophone: Esther

Noun

ester (plural esters)

1. (organic chemistry) A compound most often formed by the condensation of an alcohol and an acid, with elimination of water, which contains the functional group carbon-oxygen double bond (i.e., carbonyl) joined via carbon to another oxygen atom.
   • 1991, Malcolm B. Hale et al., “New Products and Markets for Menhaden, Brevoortia spp.”, in Marine Fisheries Review, volume 53, number 4, page 47:

     To produce a test material containing at least 75 percent omega-3 polyunsaturates, the menhaden triglycerides are transesterified to produce fatty acid ethyl esters. The esters are reacted with urea dissolved in hot ethanol and the solution is cooled overnight.

   • 1991, W. F. Kean, C. J. L. Lock, H. E. Howard-Lock, “Chirality in antirheumatic drugs”, in The Lancet, volume 338, →DOI, page 1567:

     The thiol-coenzyme-A ester formed by R-arylpropionic acid can bind to triglyceride to form a “hybrid” triglyceride: such hybrid triglycerides can cause alteration of fatty-acid metabolism and membrane function, and a lipophilic triglyceride–propionic-acid hybrid would be able to cross lipid membranes such as the blood–brain barrier.

   • 1996, Steven Ashley, “Composite car structures pass the crash test”, in Mechanical Engineering‎, volume 118, number 12, page 60:

     The effort’s primary material systems are vinyl esters and polyurethanes, reinforced with inexpensive chopped-glass rovings. Automated glass-fiber preforming processes and high-rate molding procedures are being studied in an effort to reduce cycle times and production costs substantially.

Anagrams

• Reset, Steer, Trees, estre, re-est., reest, reset, retes, seter, steer, stere, teers, teres, terse, trees

Noun

ester f (singulative estren)

1. oysters

Noun

ester m inan

1. ester

Further reading

• “ester”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ester”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

From German Ester.

References

• “ester” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

Borrowed from German Ester.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛs.tər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: es‧ter
• Rhymes: -ɛstər

Noun

ester m (plural esters, diminutive estertje n)

1. (organic chemistry) ester

Etymology

German Ester.

Noun

ester (genitive estri, partitive estrit)

1. (organic chemistry) ester

Further reading

• ester in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French ester (given a spelling-pronunciation), from Classical Latin stāre (cf. the juridical Medieval Latin senses).

Etymology 2

From German Essig-Äther (“acetic acid ethyl ester”).

Further reading

• “ester”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• estre, êtres, reste, resté, stère, stéré, terse, tersé

Etymology

Internationalism, borrowed from Dutch ester, from German Ester.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛs.tər/
• Rhymes: -tər
• Hyphenation: es‧têr

Noun

estêr (plural ester-ester)

1. (organic chemistry) ester

Further reading

• “ester” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Etymology 1

From Latin exterus, from exter.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse.

Alternative forms

• aster, astern, eastran, estern, estre, estren, yestre

Etymology

From Old English ēaster.

Noun

ester (plural esters)

1. Easter (Christian holiday)
   • c. 1280, “Vita sancti Brendani, Abbatis de Hybernia”, in Carl Horstmann, editor, The Early South English Legendary or Lives of Saints‎, London: N. Trübner & Co., published 1887, page 224:

     To a stede ȝe schulle hunne wende : þurf oure louerdes grace, / Þat is foweles parays : a wel ioyful place : / Þer ȝe schulle þis ester beo : & þis wit-sonedai also.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1300, Robert of Gloucester, edited by William Aldis Wright, The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, published 1887, page 556:

     Þre siþe he ber croune aȝer · to midewinter at gloucestre · / To witesonetid at westmunstre · to ester at wincestre ·

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • a. 1402, “De regione lodœœ”, in John Trevisa, transl., edited by Joseph Rawson Lumby, Polychronicon, page 111:

     Mysbyleued men mysdede neuere þat chirche ; and þat is, as me troweþ, for euery ȝere an Ester eue comeþ fire from heuene, and tendeþ and liȝteþ þe lamps þerynne ; but whan þat miracle bygan first, hit is vncertayne and vnknowe.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

“ēster(n, n., MED14534.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Noun

ester m (definite singular esteren, indefinite plural estere, definite plural esterne)

1. Estonian