orcin
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From French orcine, from New Latin orcina, from Dutch orseille, from French orseille, from Old French orchel, orseil, from Old Catalan orxella (influenced by dialectal Arabic [script needed] ('urjālla)), from Italian oricello, from Latin ōricilla, diminutive of ōricula (variant of auricula), both diminutives of auris (“ear”)) + illa (a double diminutive suffix) or from auris (“ear”) + cula + illa. The name of the dye was influenced by the visual resemblance of the lichen used in production to a small ear.
Noun
orcin (countable and uncountable, plural orcins)
- (organic chemistry) The organic compound 3,5-dihydroxytoluene, found in many lichens and synthesizable from toluene.
Derived terms
References
- "orchil" in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.