amyl acetate

noun

, Chemistry.

1. banana oil ( def 1 ).

amyl acetate

noun

1. another name (no longer in technical usage) for pentyl acetate

Word History and Origins

Origin of amyl acetate¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

These compounds serve as solvents, and are especially valuable just now as substitutes for amyl acetate … The quantity of kelp cut last year was about 24,000 tons a month.

From Nature

Humans are more sensitive than dogs to amyl acetate, the main odorant in bananas, for instance, presumably because identifying ripe fruit was more important to our own ancestors and irrelevant to those of dogs.

From The Guardian

The participants evaluated the pleasantness of each smell; amyl acetate, which smells like bananas, received the highest overall rating for pleasantness.

From Scientific American

Test No. 12 A. Primed with a 5% solution of soluble nitrated cotton and paraffin dissolved in equal parts of amyl acetate and benzine.

From Project Gutenberg

Purified air blows from two of the openings; the third assails them with a mix of air and amyl acetate, an odorous chemical that smells like bananas.

From Time Magazine Archive