Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

orcinol

[awr-suh-nawl, -nol]
noun Chemistry.
  1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, C7H8O2, sweet but unpleasant in taste, that reddens on exposure to air: obtained from many lichens or produced synthetically and used chiefly as a reagent for certain carbohydrates.
Show More
Also or·cin [awr-sin] /ˈɔr sɪn/.

Origin of orcinol

1875–80; < New Latin orcin(a) (< Italian orcello orchil, by alteration) + -ol2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for orcinol

orcinol

orcin (ˈɔːsɪn)

noun
  1. a colourless crystalline water-soluble solid that occurs in many lichens and from which the dyes found in litmus are derived. Formula: CH 3 C 6 H 3 (OH) 2
Show More

Word Origin

C20: from New Latin orcina, from Italian orcello orchil
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