ptomaine

American  

[toh-meyn, toh-meyn] / ˈtoʊ meɪn, toʊˈmeɪn /

noun

1. any of a class of foul-smelling nitrogenous substances produced by bacteria during putrefaction of animal or plant protein: formerly thought to be toxic.

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ptomaine British  

/ ˈtəʊmeɪn /

noun

1. any of a group of amines, such as cadaverine or putrescine, formed by decaying organic matter

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ptomaine Scientific  

/ tō′mān′ /

1. Any of various toxic nitrogenous organic compounds produced by bacterial decomposition of protein, especially in dead animal tissue. Ptomaines are bases and are formed by removing the carboxyl group (COOH) from amino acids. They do not cause food poisoning, as was previously thought, but the term ptomaine poisoning is still used to describe food poisoning caused by bacteria.

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Other Word Forms

• ptomainic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ptomaine

1875–80; < Italian ptomaina < Greek ptôma corpse + Italian -ina -ine ²

Example Sentences

At about the same time, Ptomaine Tommy in Lincoln Heights was selling the “chili size,” a hamburger top-loaded with chili and sprinkled with chopped onions that in Ptomaine lingo were “violets” or “flowers.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2022

Like many local businesses in the 1920s, Ptomaine Tommy fielded an employee baseball team, generating headlines like “Glendora in 5-to-1 Win Over Ptomaines.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2022

Ptomaine, long blamed for food poisoning, has been exposed as a fraud; most of its symptoms are now attributed to bacterial or viral infections, while the rest are the result of chemical contamination.

From Time Magazine Archive

Homesick for Bill, for Ptomaine Haul, for the gallery of Petticoats.

From Ptomaine Street by Wells, Carolyn

Ptomaine poisoning, as every one knows, results when we eat food that has begun to decay.

From The Dream Doctor by Reeve, Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin)