means A colorless, odorless gas (CH₄) that's the main ingredient in natural gas and a potent greenhouse warmer, produced by everything from swamps to cattle digestion.

from Coined in the 19th century by chemists, who built the name from 'methyl' plus the '-ane' ending that marks saturated hydrocarbons. 'Methyl' itself traces back through French to a blend of Greek 'methy' (wine) and 'hyle' (wood, matter) — literally 'wine of wood,' a nod to wood spirit, the old name for methanol, from which methane's family takes its label.