lecithin
Meanings
noun
- The principal phospholipid in animals; it is particularly abundant in egg yolks, and is extracted commercially from soy. It is a major constituent of cell membranes, and is commonly used as a food additive (as an emulsifier).
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From French lécithine, coined in 1847 by Theodore Gobley, from Ancient Greek λέκιθος (lékithos, “egg yolk”).
Synonyms
Derived words
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.