agar

[ah-gahr, ag-er]

noun

Also a·gar-a·gar. Also called Chinese gelatin, Chinese isinglass, Japanese gelatin, Japanese isinglass. a gelatinlike product of certain seaweeds, used for solidifying certain culture media, as a thickening agent for ice cream and other foods, as a substitute for gelatin, in adhesives, as an emulsifier, etc.
Biology. a culture medium having an agar base.

Origin of agar

First recorded in 1885–90, agar is from the Malay word agaragar seaweed from which a gelatin is rendered, or the gelatin itself

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for agar-agar

Historical Examples of agar-agar

Agar-agar moss is shipped from Singapore to the extent of 13,000 tons a-year.
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom
P. L. Simmonds
Agar-agar, a gum extracted from a sea-weed, used in bacteriological investigations.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Edited by Rev. James Wood
The latter had come for the purpose of collecting the gelatinous Fucus, agar-agar.
The Mission to Siam, and Hu the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2
George Finlayson
Certain constipation biscuits, sterilized dry bran, or agar-agar may be eaten with the breakfast cereal.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
Cultures of the comma bacillus were also made in agar-agar jelly, which is not liquefied by them.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 467, December 13, 1884
Various

British Dictionary definitions for agar-agar

agar

noun

a complex gelatinous carbohydrate obtained from seaweeds, esp those of the genus Gelidium, used as a culture medium for bacteria, a laxative, in food such as ice cream as a thickening agent (E406), etcAlso called: agar-agar

Word Origin for agar

C19: Malay

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

agar-agar in Medicine

agar

[ā′gär′, ä′gär′]

A gelatinous material derived from marine algae, used as a base for bacterial culture media and as a stabilizer and thickener in food.
A culture medium containing this material.

agar-agar in Science

agar

[ā′gär′, ä′gär′]

A gelatinous material obtained from marine algae, especially seaweed, used as a medium for growing bacterial cultures in the laboratory and as a thickener and stabilizer in food products.