esculin

or aes·cu·lin

[ es-kyuh-lin ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, slightly water-soluble glucoside, C 15 H 16 O 9 , obtained from the bark of the common horse chestnut and used chiefly in skin preparations as a protective against sunburn.

Word History and Origins

Origin of esculin¹

< Italian esculina < New Latin Aescul ( us ) (first part of genus name of species that produces it) + Italian -ina -in ²

Example Sentences

Esculin will not luminesce with peroxidase and H2O2, but pyrogallol or gallic acid will.

From Project Gutenberg