For convenience: Etymonline <http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=gas&searchmode=none> says
> 1650s, from Dutch gas, probably from Greek khaos "empty space" (see > chaos). The sound of Dutch "g" is roughly equivalent to that of Greek "kh." > First used by Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont (1577-1644), probably > influenced by Paracelsus, who used khaos in an occult sense of "proper > elements of spirits" or "ultra-rarified water," which was van Helmont's > definition of gas. > Modern scientific sense began 1779, with later specialization to > "combustible mix of vapors" (1794, originally coal gas); "anesthetic" > (1894, originally nitrous oxide); and "poison gas" (1900). Meaning > "intestinal vapors" is from 1882. "The success of this artificial word is > unique" [Weekley]. Slang sense of "empty talk" is from 1847; slang meaning > "something exciting or excellent" first attested 1953, from earlier hepster > slang gasser in the same sense (1944). Gas also meant "fun, a joke" in > Anglo-Irish and was used so by Joyce (1914). As short for gasoline, it is > American English, first recorded 1905. -Arlo James Barnes
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