chitin
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
See also: Chitin
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French chitine, from Latin chitōn (“mollusk”), from Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn). See also chiton.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
chitin (countable and uncountable, plural chitins)
- (biochemistry) A complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.
- 1880, Arthur Gamgee, A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body[1], Macmillan, page 299:
- Chitin usually occurs throughout Invertebrates in the form of an investment to the outermost cellular layer or ectoderm.
- 2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 19:
- The robot’s energy source is the sugar in the polysaccharide called chitin that makes up a fly’s exoskeleton.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi
|
References[edit]
- “chitin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “chitin”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪtɪn
- Rhymes:English/aɪtɪn/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Carbohydrates
- English terms with quotations