English Explanatory Dictionary

phycobilin

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of a group of bilins (pigments derived from porphyrins) found in some photosynthetic algae; they are open-chain tetrapyrroles related to mammalian bile pigments.

Word forms

phycobilin phycobilins

Etymology

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting New Latin roots/stems referring to plants and bile. By surface analysis, phyco- + bilin = phyco- + bili- + -in, although according to American Heritage Dictionary, bilin was back-formed from phycobilin (as opposed to phycobilin being derived from bilin as surface analysis suggests).

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