What does diethylamide mean?
Diethylamide is a technical term from organic chemistry denoting a compound or functional group in which two hydrogen atoms of an amine are replaced by ethyl groups. In practice, chemists use it chiefly to name derivatives of carboxylic acids, following the pattern '[parent] acid diethylamide' — for example, lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, the hallucinogenic compound first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938. The word is built from transparent parts: the prefix 'di-' meaning two, 'ethyl' for the two-carbon hydrocarbon unit, and 'amide' for the nitrogen-bearing compound class derived ultimately from ammonia. Outside laboratory and pharmacological contexts, diethylamide rarely stands alone; general readers encounter it almost exclusively within the full name of LSD. Its register is firmly formal and scientific, appearing in research papers, patents, and reference works, and it denotes a family of related substances rather than one single compound unless the parent acid is specified.
nounA chemical compound or group formed from ammonia in which two of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by ethyl groups; it typically occurs as the amide derivative of a carboxylic acid, as in lysergic acid diethylamide.
- A compound in which two hydrogen atoms of an amine group are replaced by ethyl groups, especially the diethylamide derivative of a carboxylic acid (e.g. lysergic acid diethylamide).
"The chemist identified the compound as the diethylamide of nicotinic acid."
"Lysergic acid diethylamide was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938."
"The paper describes the synthesis and characterization of several new diethylamides."
Pluralizes normally when referring to multiple distinct diethylamide compounds; often left unpluralized when treated as a mass term for the compound class.
"Several novel diethylamides were evaluated for biological activity."
Say 'lysergic acid diethylamide' fast enough and you get LSD — the word itself is literally stitched into the drug's famous abbreviation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of diethylamide
The word is a modern scientific coinage assembled from Greek- and Latin-derived elements: 'di-' from Greek 'dis' meaning twice, 'ethyl' coined in 19th-century German chemistry (ultimately from Latin 'aether', referring to ether), and 'amide,' a blend of 'ammonia' and '-ide' introduced in the mid-19th century for nitrogen compounds derived from ammonia. Such systematic nomenclature spread internationally with the rise of structural chemistry in the 1800s. Cognate formations appear across European languages, such as French 'diéthylamide' and German 'Diäthylamid'.
Related word forms
How diethylamide is actually used
Strictly a technical chemistry term, found almost entirely in scientific literature; in general writing it appears overwhelmingly as part of the full name lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) rather than on its own. It refers to a class of compounds rather than a single specific substance unless the parent acid is named.
Easily confused with diethylamide
Dimethylamide contains two methyl (C2H6-derived one-carbon) groups where diethylamide contains two ethyl (two-carbon) groups.
Diethylamine is the simple secondary amine (C4H11N), whereas a diethylamide is a carboxylic acid derivative bearing that diethylamino group.