Editing Naphtha (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Camp fuel.jpg|thumb|upright|White gas, exemplified by [[Coleman fuel|Coleman Camp Fuel]], is a common naphtha-based fuel used in many lanterns and stoves.]]

The word ''naphtha'' comes from [[Latin]] through [[Ancient Greek]] ({{Lang|grc|νάφθα}}), derived from [[Middle Persian]] ''naft'' ("wet", "naphtha"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://agiw.fak1.tu-berlin.de/Auditorium/FAByzIsl/SO8/PersErb.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811054725/http://agiw.fak1.tu-berlin.de/Auditorium/FAByzIsl/SO8/PersErb.htm |archive-date=2011-08-11 |title= Persisches Erbe im Griechischen, Lateinischen, Arabischen, Türkischen und in verschiedenen heutigen europäischen Sprachen (''Persian Heritage in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Turkic and Various Modern European Languages'')| author=Christian Gizewski ([[Technische Universität Berlin]])|publisher=Technische Universität Berlin| access-date = 2010-02-28}}</ref><ref name="D. N. MacKenzie1971">{{cite book|author=David Neil MacKenzie|title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary|year=1971|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1-934768-59-4|page=57}}</ref> the latter meaning of which was an assimilation from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] [[wikt:napṭum|𒉌𒆳𒊏]] {{Transliteration|akk|napṭu}} (see [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] relatives such as [[Arabic language|Arabic]] {{lang|ar|نَفْط}} {{Transliteration|ar|nafṭ}} ["petroleum"], [[Syriac language|Syriac]] {{Lang|syc|ܢܰܦܬܳܐ}} ''naftā'', and [[Hebrew]] {{Lang|he|נֵפְט}} {{Transliteration|he|neft}}, meaning petroleum).<ref>{{cite web |title=ENGLISH i. Persian Elements in English |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/english |website=www.iranicaonline.org |publisher=[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]] |access-date=1 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Antiquity ===
The book of [[II Maccabees]] (2nd cent. BC) tells how a "thick water" was put on a sacrifice at the time of [[Nehemiah]] and when the sun shone it caught fire. It adds that "those around Nehemiah termed this 'Nephthar', which means Purification, but it is called Nephthaei by the many."<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Maccabees|1:36}}</ref> This same substance is mentioned in the [[Mishnah]] as one of the generally permitted oils for lamps on [[Shabbat]], although [[Rabbi Tarfon]] permits only [[olive oil]] (Mishnah Shabbat 2). 

In Ancient Greek, it was used to refer to any sort of [[petroleum]] or [[Pitch (resin)|pitch]]. The Greek word {{lang|el|νάφθα}} designates one of the materials used to stoke the fiery furnace in the [[Song of the Three Children]] (possibly 1st or 2nd cent. BC).  The translation of Charles Brenton renders this as "[[rosin]]".

The naphtha of antiquity is explained to be a "highly flammable light [[Fractionation|fraction]] of petroleum, an extremely volatile, strong-smelling, gaseous liquid, common in oil deposits of the Near East"; it was a chief ingredient in incendiary devices<!-- such as the ''pyr atutomaton''--> described by Latin authors of the Roman period.<ref name=mayor>{{cite book|last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Mayor |title=Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World |location=Woodstock, NY |publisher=Overlook Duckworth |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QysqAQAAIAAJ&q=naphtha |page=227 |isbn=0715638521<!--, 9780715638521-->}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=M_v57ETfcvQC&lpg=PP1 digital copy]</ref>

=== Modern period ===
<!--Since the 19th century-->Since the 19th century, [[solvent naphtha]] has denoted a product ([[xylene]] or [[trimethylbenzenes]]) derived by [[fractional distillation]] from petroleum;<ref name=remsen>{{cite book|last=Daunicht |first=Hubert K. |author-link=<!--Hubert K. Daunicht--> |title=Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World |location=Woodstock, NY |publisher=Overlook Duckworth |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=84FfBiU_gi4C&pg=PA307 |page=307 |isbn=<!--0715638521, -->9780715638521}}</ref> these [[mineral spirits]], also known as "Stoddard Solvent", were originally the main active ingredient in [[Fels Naptha]] laundry soap.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/pafrm/org/fels-company|title=Fels & Company |website=Hsp.org|accessdate=2016-09-28}}</ref> The naphtha in Fels Naptha was later removed as a cancer risk.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portugrocer: 1942 |url=https://www.shorpy.com/node/27017 |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=Shorpy.com |language=en}}</ref>

The usage of the term "naphtha" during this time typically implies petroleum naphtha, a colorless liquid with a similar odor to gasoline. However, "coal tar naphtha", a reddish brown liquid that is a mixture of hydrocarbons (toluene, xylene, and [[cumene]], etc.), could also be intended in some contexts.<ref name=sittig>{{cite book|last=Sittig |first=Marshall |author-link=<!--Marshall Sittig--> |editor1-last=Greene |editor1-first=Stanley A. |editor1-link=<!--Stanley A. Greene--> |editor2-last=Pohanish|editor2-first=Richard P. |editor2-link=<!--Richard P. Pohanish-->|chapter=Naphtha |title=Sittig's Handbook of Pesticides and Agricultural Chemicals |location= |publisher=William Andrew |date=2013 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAoKEHpyu6wC&pg=PA636 |page=636 |isbn=<!--0815519036, -->9780815519034}}</ref>

=== Petroleum ===
In older usage,{{when|date=January 2022}} "naphtha" simply meant [[crude oil]], but this usage is now obsolete in English. There are a number of [[cognate]]s to the word in different modern languages, typically signifying "petroleum" or "crude oil".

The [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] word [[:uk:нафта|нафта]] (''nafta''), [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]] "nafta" and the [[Persian language|Persian]] {{Transliteration|fa|naft}} ({{lang|fa|نفت}}) mean "crude oil". The Russian word {{lang|ru|нефть}} (''neft<nowiki>'</nowiki>'') means "crude oil", but нафта (''nafta'') is a synonym of [[ligroin]]. Also, in [[Albania]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Croatia]], [[Finland]], [[Italy]], [[Serbia]], [[Slovenia]], [[North Macedonia|Macedonia]] ''nafta'' (нафта in Cyrillic) is colloquially used to indicate [[diesel fuel]] and [[crude oil]]. In the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]], ''nafta'' was historically used for both diesel fuel and crude oil, but its use for crude oil is now obsolete<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slovnik.juls.savba.sk/?w=nafta&s=exact&c=k045&d=kssj4&d=psp&d=scs&d=sss&d=peciar&d=hssjV&d=ma&d=obce&d=priezviska&d=un&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 |title=Slovenské slovníky |publisher=Slovnik.juls.savba.sk |access-date=2015-10-26}}</ref> and it generally indicates diesel fuel. In [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], ''nafta'' means diesel fuel, while ''neft'', as well as ''petrol'' (петрол in Cyrillic), means crude oil. ''Nafta'' is also used in everyday parlance in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to refer to gasoline/petrol.<ref name="Mairal2012">{{cite book|author=Pedro Mairal|title=El año del desierto|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQ56G7us0-4C&pg=PA71|year=2012|publisher=Stockcero, Inc|isbn=978-1-934768-59-4|pages=71–}}</ref> In Poland, the word ''{{wikt-lang|pl|nafta|}}'' means [[kerosene]],<ref name="Taranov2013">{{cite book|author=Andrey Taranov|title=Polish vocabulary for English speakers - 7000 words|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kR-kAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA98|date=23 October 2013|publisher=BoD - Books on Demand|isbn=978-1-78071-417-2|pages=98–}}</ref> and colloquially crude oil (technical name for crude oil is ''{{wikt-lang|pl|ropa naftowa|}}'', also colloquially used for diesel fuel as ''{{wikt-lang|pl|ropa|}}''). In [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]], the word ''naft(e)'' is used colloquially for gasoline.<ref name="Clyne1992">{{cite book|author=Michael G. Clyne|title=Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wawGFWNuHiwC&pg=PA85|year=1992|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-012855-0|pages=85–}}</ref>