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mercaptan

[mer-kap-tan]
noun Chemistry.
  1. any of a class of sulfur-containing compounds having the type formula RSH, in which R represents a radical, and having an extremely offensive, garlicky odor.

Origin of mercaptan

1825–35; < Latin, short for phrase corpus mercurium captāns body capturing quicksilver
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for mercaptan

mercaptan

noun
  1. another name (not in technical usage) for thiol

Word Origin for mercaptan

C19: from German, from Medieval Latin mercurium captans, literally: seizing quicksilver
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
mercaptan in Medicine

mercaptan

[mər-kăp′tăn′]
n.
  1. Any of a class of organic compounds in which the oxygen of an alcohol has been replaced by sulfur and which have distinctive, often disagreeable, odors.thiol
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
mercaptan in Science

mercaptan

[mər-kăp′tăn′]
  1. See thiol.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.