Ptomaine - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Ptomaine

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pto·maine

Audio Help [toh-meyn, toh-meyn] Pronunciation Key

–noun

any of a class of foul-smelling nitrogenous substances produced by bacteria during putrefaction of animal or plant protein: formerly thought to be toxic.

[Origin: 1875–80; < It ptomaina < Gk ptôma corpse + It -ina -ine²

]

—Related forms

pto·main·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Ptomaine

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pto·maine Audio Help (tō'mān', tō-mān') Pronunciation Key
n. A basic nitrogenous organic compound produced by bacterial putrefaction of protein.

[Italian ptomaina, from Greek ptōma, corpse, from piptein, ptō-, to fall; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ptomaine

1880, from It. ptomaina, coined by Selmi 1878 from Gk. ptoma "corpse," lit. "a falling, fallen thing," from piptein "to fall," from PIE base *pet- (see petition). Notion is of poison produced in decaying matter. Incorrectly formed; proper Gk. would be *ptomatine.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ptomaine
noun
1.	any of various amines (such as putrescine or cadaverine) formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria
2.	a term for food poisoning that is no longer in scientific use; food poisoning was once thought to be caused by ingesting ptomaines

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ptomaine Audio Help (tō'mān') Pronunciation Key
Any of various toxic nitrogenous organic compounds produced by bacterial decomposition of protein, especially in dead animal tissue. Ptomaines are bases and are formed by removing the carboxyl group (COOH) from amino acids. They do not cause food poisoning, as was previously thought, but the term ptomaine poisoning is still used to describe food poisoning caused by bacteria.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Ptomaine

Ca*dav"er*ic\, a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a corpse, or the changes produced by death; cadaverous; as, cadaveric rigidity. --Dunglison.

Cadaveric alkaloid, an alkaloid generated by the processes of decomposition in dead animal bodies, and thought by some to be the cause of the poisonous effects produced by the bodies. See Ptomaine.

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