protyle

English

Etymology

From proto- + Ancient Greek ὕλη (húlē, timber, material).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɹəʊtaɪl/

Noun

protyle (countable and uncountable, plural protyles)

  1. (physics, chemistry, historical) A hypothetical base substance from which all chemical elements were believed to have been made; subatomic particles.
    • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2004, p. 73:
      Dumas wondered whether the fundamental building blocks of atoms might be some smaller division of the hydrogen atom: a half, say, or a quarter. This basic substance became known as ‘protyle’.

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