gluc-

American  

1. variant of gluco- before a vowel.

   glucide.

---

Usage

What does gluc- mean? Gluc- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “sugar" or "glucose and its derivatives." Glucose is a sugar found in many fruits, animal tissues and fluids, and other sources. Gluc- is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in chemistry. Gluc- comes from Greek glykýs, meaning “sweet." While the Greek letter upsilon is usually transliterated into English as y, it is occasionally adapted as u, as we can see with gluc-. The Latin translation (and perhaps cognate) of glykýs is dulcis, “sweet,” which is the source of sweetness-related terms such as dulcet and, through Italian, dolce vita. To learn more, check out our entries for both words. What are variants of gluc-?Gluc- is a variant of gluco-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. More common variants of gluc- are glyco- and glyc-, as in glycogenetic and glycol. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles about gluco-, glyco-, and glyc-.