Meaning
Naturally occurring liquid petroleum.
Etymology
Origin: Latin
Etymology tree Akkadian napṭumbor.? Old Persian *naftahbor. Ancient Greek νάφθα (náphtha)bor. Latin naphthabor. English naphtha From Latin naphtha, from Ancient Greek νάφθα (náphtha, “naphtha”), from Old Persian *naftah, probably borrowed or assimilated from Akkadian 𒉌𒆳𒊏 (napṭu, “naphtha”) . The Greek mediation is reflected in the spelling – ‘ph’ and ‘th’ (from ‘φ’ and ‘θ’).
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2026.