Amino acid

/əˈminoʊ ˈæsɪd/ noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any organic compound containing both an amino and a carboxylic acid functional group.
  2. 2
    organic compounds containing an amino group and a carboxylic acid group wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of the twenty naturally occurring α-amino acids (having the amino, and carboxylic acid groups on the same carbon atom), and a variety of side chains, that combine, via peptide bonds, to form proteins.

Etymology

See amine and acid. Likely a calque of German Aminosäure, which is attested earlier.