murexide

[myoo-rek-sahyd, -sid]

noun

Chemistry.

1. a reddish-purple, crystalline, sparingly water-soluble solid, C 8 H 8 N 6 O 6 , having a green luster, formerly used as a dye.

Word History and Origins

Origin of murexide¹

First recorded in 1830–40; murex + -ide ( def. )

Example Sentences

The problem is solved: the colouring-matter which has just formed is murexide; and consequently the powdery substance which filled the cells was none other than uric acid, or more precisely ammonium urate.

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Dissolved in water, the murexide derived from uric acid is a magnificent crimson.

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Treated with nitric acid, the adipose tissue of the Decticus produces an effervescence similar to that of chalk and yields enough murexide to redden a tumblerful of water.

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All those parts, in fact, which lie immediately under the translucid skin are covered with a layer of pigment which can be turned into murexide and is identical in nature with the white powder of the adipose lace.

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The pigment, no matter what its hue, dissolves with effervescence and afterwards yields murexide.

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