galactose

American  

[guh-lak-tohs] / gəˈlæk toʊs /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble hexose sugar, C 6 H 12 O 6 , obtained in its dextrorotatory form from milk sugar by hydrolysis and in its levorotatory form from mucilages.

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galactose British  

/ ɡəˈlæktəʊz, -əʊs /

noun

1. a white water-soluble monosaccharide found in lactose. Formula: C 6 H 12 O 6

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galactose Scientific  

/ gə-lăk′tōs′ /

1. A monosaccharide commonly occurring in lactose and in certain pectins, gums, and mucilages. Chemical formula: C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₆ .

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Etymology

Origin of galactose

First recorded in 1865–70; galact- + -ose ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

galactose

Another enzyme produced by the bacteria, known as arabinose isomerase, then converts the galactose into tagatose.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2026

Two major carbohydrate components were studied: fucose and galactose.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2026

Following her illness, Mills was diagnosed with galactosaemia, a rare genetic disorder affecting up to one in 45,000 babies which prevents her body from turning galactose into glucose.

From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2024

All mammals, including humans, make milk with carbohydrates in the same unique form: lactose, a sugar that is a fusion of two other sugars called galactose and glucose.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2022

Gitonin, C49H80O23, containing 3 molecules of galactose, one of a pentose sugar, and one of gitogenin; and gitalin, C28H48O10, containing digitoxose and gitaligenin, have also been isolated from digitalis extracts.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

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Related Words

• cellulose
• glucose
• lactose
• starch
• sugar

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