Alkapton
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 homogentisic acid uncountable
- 2 an acid formed as an intermediate product of the metabolism of tyrosine and phenylalanine wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsEtymology
From German Alkapton, coined by Boedeker (1861) as "an admittedly somewhat barbaric combination" of Alkali (“alkali”) + Ancient Greek κάπτον (kápton), neuter present participle of Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”), after the tendency of alkapton to strongly react with oxygen in alkaline solution.
Related phrases
More for "alkapton"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.