monosaccharide
Americannoun
noun
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Any of a class of carbohydrates that cannot be broken down to simpler sugars by hydrolysis and that constitute the building blocks of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides consist of at least three carbon atoms, one of which is attached to an oxygen atom to form an aldehyde group (CHO) or a ketone, and the others of which are each attached to a hydroxyl group (OH). Monosaccharides can occur as chains or rings. Fructose, glucose, and ribose are monosaccharides.
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Also called simple sugar
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Compare oligosaccharide polysaccharide See more at aldose ketose
Etymology
Origin of monosaccharide
First recorded in 1895–1900; mono- + saccharide
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Vocabulary lists containing monosaccharide
Biochemistry
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Nutrition and Digestion - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fructose, a monosaccharide known as "fruit sugar," is a common dietary sugar found naturally in fruit, honey, and processed foods.
From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2024
Fructose, being a monosaccharide, diffused through the dialysis bag into the distilled water.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
These carbohydrate chains may consist of 2–60 monosaccharide units and can be either straight or branched.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
The monosaccharide mumbo jumbo you seem to be touting sounds like so much pseudoscience.
From New York Times • Nov. 26, 2016
When completely hydrolyzed, they yield three molecules of monosaccharides; when partially hydrolyzed, one each of a disaccharide and a monosaccharide.
From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
