pyroligneousadj.
/ˌpʌɪrəˈlɪɡnɪəs/, U.S. /ˌpaɪrəˈlɪɡniəs/ Produced by the action of fire or heat on wood.Earliest in pyroligneous acid n. at Compounds.
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1788 J. St. John tr. L. B. Guyton de Morveau et al. Method Chym. Nomencl. 37 In this manner..the empyreumatic spirits of wood [become] pyro-ligneous acid.
1853 A. Gray Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 4) ii. iv. 481 The peculiar odor of Russia leather is said to be owing to a pyroligneous oil obtained from Betula alba.
1911 Lancet 28 Jan. 254/2 The smoke was free from one or other of these common pyroligneous products.
1932 E. H. Thompson People of Serpent iii. viii. 272 The tree had vanished and..only a few lines of wood fibre remained, surrounded by a dark stain of a pyroligneous character.
1981 Industr. & Engin. Chem. Product Res. & Devel. 20 719/1 When semicoke or charcoal is used as packing material, tar and pyroligneous liquor are completely decomposed.
Compounds
pyroligneous acid n. a reddish brown acidic liquid consisting chiefly of acetic acid, methanol, wood-oils, and tars, produced by the destructive distillation of wood; wood vinegar.
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1788Pyro-ligneous acid [see main sense].
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 64/1 Some turpentine being drawn from green trees abound[s] with a pyroligneous acid.
1947 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) VIII. 12/2 The aqueous pyroligneous acid is distilled in order to remove ‘dissolved’ tar.
2000 R. B. Gordon Landscape Transformed x. 117 Coaling wood released smoke bearing pyroligneous acid that could be a source of local air pollution.
pyroligneous alcohol n. rare = wood-spirit n. 2.
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1890 Cent. Dict. at Pyroligneous Pyroligneous alcohol, methylic alcohol.
1913 T. H. Pope tr. E. Molinari Treat. Org. Chem. (ed. 9) II. i. 108 Pyroligneous alcohol of 90 per cent. strength (French) is sold at £4 12s. per 100 kilos.
pyroligneous ether n. now historical = wood-spirit n. 2.
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1822 P. Taylor in Philos. Mag. 31 Oct. 316 This spirit, which, from its greater resemblance to æther than to any other substance, I have called pyroligneous æther.
1876 J. Harley Royle's Man. Materia Med. (ed. 6) 336 Pyroligneous æther or wood naphtha,—a fluid quite distinct from mineral naphtha,..which is a simple hydrocarbon.
1948 J. R. Partington Short Hist. Chem. x. 233 Taylor had prepared ‘pyroligneous ether’ from it [sc. the distillate of wood], but the French chemists proved that is is an alcohol, to which they gave the name methyl alcohol.
pyroligneous spirit n. [compare earlier pyroxylic spirit n. at pyroxylic adj. Compounds] now rare = wood-spirit n. 2.
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1843 Lancet 9 Sept. 819/2 This remedy is the impure pyroligneous spirit diluted in water.
1853 Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 356 When peat is subjected to distillation at a red heat it evolves..tar, acetic acid, pyroligneous spirit, ammonia and gas.
2000 S. G. Anchell Darkroom Cookbk. (ed. 2) iii. 15 Alcohol, Methyl. Synonyms:..Pyroligneous spirit.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1788