pyrene

¹ American  

[pahy-reen, pahy-reen] / ˈpaɪ rin, paɪˈrin /

noun

Botany.

1. a putamen or stone, especially when there are several in a single fruit; a nutlet.

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pyrene ² American  

[pahy-reen] / ˈpaɪ rin /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a polycyclic, aromatic crystalline hydrocarbon, C 1 6 H 1 0 , consisting of four fused benzene rings, found in coal tar and believed to be carcinogenic.

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pyrene ¹ British  

/ ˈpaɪriːn /

noun

1. a solid polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon extracted from coal tar. Formula: C 16 H 10

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pyrene ² British  

/ ˈpaɪriːn /

noun

1. botany any of several small hard stones that occur in a single fruit and contain a single seed each

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Etymology

Origin of pyrene¹

1830–40; < New Latin pȳrēna < Greek pȳrḗn fruit stone

Origin of pyrene²

First recorded in 1880–85; pyr- + -ene

Example Sentences

From the tar distillate, the chrysene can be fractionally precipitated, and the fluoranthene can be separated from most of the pyrene by fractional distillation in a partial vacuum.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

By fusing two nuclei we obtain the formula of naphthalene, C10H10; by fusing three, the hydrocarbons anthracene and phenanthrene, C14H10; by fusing four, chrysene, C18H12, and possibly pyrene, C16H10; by fusing five, picene, C22H14.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various

Others of the crew, who had hastily donned masks to protect themselves from the choking vapour, were busily engaged in hurling pyrene into the seat of the conflagration.

From The Airship "Golden Hind" by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

The hydrocarbons are separated from the “Stupp” by means of alcohol, the soluble portion on distillation giving first phenanthrene and then a mixture of pyrene and fluoranthene.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various