bitter principle

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. any of several hundred natural compounds, usually of vegetable origin, having a bitter taste, and not admitting of any chemical classification.

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bitter principle British  

noun

1. any of various bitter-tasting substances, such as aloin, usually extracted from plants

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Etymology

Origin of bitter principle

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

May not something similar exist in the moral world? and even in the very healthiest mixture, may not some "bitter principle" be found to lurk?

From Confessions Of Con Cregan An Irish Gil Blas by Lever, Charles James

Its aromatic bitter stimulant properties are like those of cubebs, and depend on a volatile oil, a dark-green resin, and a peculiar bitter principle called maticin.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William

The bitter principle of the aromatic hops went to his nervous system, to the much-suffering liver, to the clogged and weary organs, bracing and stimulating, urging on, vitalizing anew.

From Amaryllis at the Fair by Jefferies, Richard

There is also present a minute quantity of a bitter principle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various

The bitter principle contained in the root, wood and bark was discovered by Blunse who named it samaderin; it is a white, crystalline, foliaceous substance, more soluble in water than in alcohol, fusible.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Thomas, Jerome Beers