anthracene

[an-thruh-seen]

noun Chemistry.

a colorless, crystalline powder, C14H12, obtained from coal tar and having a violet fluorescence: used chiefly as a source of anthraquinone and alizarin, and in the process of measuring radioactive materials.

Origin of anthracene

First recorded in 1860–65; anthrac- + -ene

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for anthracene

Historical Examples of anthracene

It is rapidly decomposed by an excess of alcohol into picric acid and anthracene, the solution assuming a yellow tint.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
A great number of products are procured from anthracene, by far the most important of these being artificial alizarin.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
The whole of the anthracene is sold for the manufacture of artificial alizarine.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5
Various
In addition to alizarin, other anthracene derivatives are of industrial importance.
Coal
Raphael Meldola
The anthracene derivative is in this process built up synthetically.
Coal
Raphael Meldola

British Dictionary definitions for anthracene

anthracene

noun

a colourless tricyclic crystalline solid having a slight blue fluorescence, used in the manufacture of chemicals, esp diphenylamine and alizarin, and as crystals in scintillation counters. Formula: C 6 H 4 (CH) 2 C 6 H 4

Word Origin for anthracene

C19: from anthrax + -ene

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

anthracene in Science

anthracene

[ăn′thrə-sēn′]

A crystalline hydrocarbon that consists of three benzene rings fused together. It is extracted from coal tar and is used to make dyes and organic chemicals. Chemical formula: C14H10.