Agar
//ˈeɪ.ɡə// name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A gelatinous substance obtained from red algae, especially Gracilaria species, used as a bacterial culture medium, in electrophoresis and as a food additive. countable, uncountable
- 2 agarwood countable, uncountable
- 3 a colloidal extract of algae; used especially in culture media and as a gelling agent in foods wordnet
- 4 A culture medium based on this material. countable, uncountable
"An hour before, he had been in lab, removing from the incubator his boxes of agar plates."
- 5 any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar, she said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Malay agar (“jelly”) or agar-agar.
Etymology 2
Possibly from Hindi अगर (agar), from Sanskrit अगरु (agaru).
Related phrases
More for "agar"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.