Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

octane

octane (ok"tān) , noun

[See Octa-]

(Chemistry) Any one of a group of metametric hydrocarbons (C8H18) of the methane (paraffin) series. The most important is a colorless, volatile, inflammable liquid, found in petroleum, and a constituent of gasoline or ligroin.