oligosaccharide

[ ol-i-goh-sak-uh-rahyd, -rid ]

nounChemistry.
  1. any carbohydrate yielding few monosaccharides on hydrolysis, as two, three, or four.

Origin of oligosaccharide

1
First recorded in 1925–30; oligo- + saccharide

Words Nearby oligosaccharide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for oligosaccharide

oligosaccharide

/ (ˌɒlɪɡəʊˈsækəˌraɪd, -rɪd) /


noun
  1. any one of a class of carbohydrates consisting of a few monosaccharide units linked together: Compare polysaccharide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for oligosaccharide

oligosaccharide

[ ŏl′ĭ-gō-săkə-rīd′, ō′lĭ- ]


  1. A carbohydrate consisting of a relatively small and specifiable number of monosaccharides joined together. Lactose, maltose, and sucrose are oligosaccharides consisting of two simple sugars. Raffinose is an oligosaccharide consisting of three simple sugars. Compare monosaccharide polysaccharide.

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