PETN

noun

ˌpē-ˌē-ˌtē-ˈen 

: a crystalline ester C₅H₈N₄O₁₂ used as a powerful high explosive and medically in the treatment of angina pectoris

… the experts determined that its explosive content was identical to that of the Honolulu bomb—PETN, an explosive undetectable by X-ray.

—Steven Emerson

called also pentaerythritol tetranitrate

Word History

Etymology

pentaerythritol tetranitrate

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above