coumarin

or cu·ma·rin

[ koo-muh-rin ]

noun
  1. a fragrant crystalline substance, C9H6O2, obtained from the tonka bean, sweet clover, and certain other plants or prepared synthetically, used chiefly in soaps and perfumery.

Origin of coumarin

1
1820–30; <French coumarine, equivalent to coumar(ou) tonka-bean tree (<Spanish cumarú<Portuguese <Tupi cumaru) + -ine-in2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use coumarin in a sentence

  • No glucoside containing cumarin as such has yet been isolated; but several glucosides of its oxy-derivatives are known.

    The Chemistry of Plant Life | Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher
  • The structural arrangement of the oxy-cumarin groups which are found in these glucosides is shown in the following formulas.

    The Chemistry of Plant Life | Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher
  • Perkin made cumarin in 1868, but this, like the dye industry, escaped from English hands and flew over the North Sea.

    Creative Chemistry | Edwin E. Slosson
  • One ounce of cumarin is equal to four pounds of tonka beans.

    Creative Chemistry | Edwin E. Slosson

British Dictionary definitions for coumarin

coumarin

cumarin

/ (ˈkuːmərɪn) /


noun
  1. a white vanilla-scented crystalline ester, used in perfumes and flavourings and as an anticoagulant. Formula: C 9 H 6 O 2

Origin of coumarin

1
C19: from French coumarine, from coumarou tonka-bean tree, from Spanish cumarú, from Tupi

Derived forms of coumarin

  • coumaric or cumaric, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for coumarin

coumarin

[ kōōmər-ĭn ]


  1. A fragrant crystalline compound extracted from several plants, such as tonka beans and sweet clover, or produced synthetically. Coumarin and its derivatives are widely used in perfumes, as anticoagulants, and as rodenticides. Chemical formula: C9H6O2.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.