Word.ws English Dictionary

benzene

/ˈbɛn.ziːn/

benzene noun: an aromatic hydrocarbon of formula C₆H₆ whose structure consists of a ring of alternate single and double bonds.

Noun

benzene (usually uncountable, plural benzenes)

  1. (usually) An aromatic hydrocarbon of formula C₆H₆ whose structure consists of a ring of alternate single and double bonds.
    • Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance]”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2013
    • The recall notice, published earlier this week, noted that the affected products likely will not expose people to levels of benzene high enough to cause health issues.2021 November 26, Jackie Wattles, “Some Old Spice and Secret deodorants recalled after cancer-causing chemical is detected”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2022
  2. (in-compounds, usually) Sometimes used in place of the phenyl group.

benzene meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Arabic

benzene in Hindi

aromatic compound C6H6
धूपेन्य dhūpenya

benzene in Tamil

aromatic compound C6H6
பென்சீன் peṉcīṉ

benzene in Urdu

aromatic compound C6H6
بنزین benzīn

benzene in Arabic

aromatic compound C6H6
بَنْزِين banzīn
More languagesFewer languages
benzene in Malay
benzena
benzene in Indonesian
benzena
benzene in Persian
بنزین benzin
benzene in Vietnamese
benzen

Examples of benzene in a sentence

  • Benzene and cyclohexane are both cyclic compounds.
  • It filtered out all five of the common toxins mentioned here (trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, and ammonia).
  • When chlorine atoms are connected to the benzene rings, we have a chlorinated dioxin.

All 10 example sentences with benzene

Forms of benzene

pluralbenzenes
alternative formbenzine

Plural of benzene: benzenes

Origin of benzene

A technical term in chemistry, adopted in English in 1835 as benzine (benzene from 1872), from German Benzin, which was coined in 1833 by Eilhardt Mitscherlich based on Benzoesäure (“benzoic acid”), plus the technical ending -ene (German -in) denoting hydrocarbons. The adjective benzoic is in turn from benzoin, originally a term for a balsamic resin from Middle French benjoin, from Spanish benjuí, Portuguese beijoim, Italian benzoe, probably, from Arabic لُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy, “Javanese frankincense”). Not related to German Benz (surname).

Words formed from benzene

Phrases with benzene

Words that rhyme with benzene

Questions about benzene

What does benzene mean?
Benzene means an aromatic hydrocarbon of formula C₆H₆ whose structure consists of a ring of alternate single and double bonds.
What is benzene in Hindi?
Benzene in Hindi is धूपेन्य (dhūpenya). See Benzene meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is benzene?
Benzene is a noun.
How do you pronounce benzene?
Benzene is pronounced /ˈbɛn.ziːn/.
What is the plural of benzene?
The plural of benzene is benzenes.

Words near benzene in the dictionary

  1. benzedeira
  2. benzedeiras
  3. benzedrine
  4. Benzel
  5. Benzels
  6. benzene
  7. benzene ring
  8. benzene rings
  9. benzeneamine
  10. benzenearsonous acid
  11. benzeneazobenzene

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: benzene (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-benzene.wav.

Cite this entry: “benzene.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/benzene. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.