Acetolactic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to acetolactic acid, an intermediate compound formed during the biosynthesis of certain amino acids in microorganisms and plants
2. Describing the chemical compound acetolactic acid or processes in which it is produced as an intermediate step in metabolism
3. Pertaining to a biochemical intermediate, acetolactic acid, that forms during the synthesis of branched-chain amino acids in living cells

Etymology: Acetolactic is a technical coinage rather than a word with an old folk history. It is built from "aceto-", the combining form of "acetic" (from the Latin "acetum", vinegar, which gave English "acetic" and the acetate family of chemical names), joined to "lactic" (from Latin "lac", milk, the source of the lactic acid first isolated from sour milk). Chemists combined the two stems to name a compound containing both an acetyl group and a lactic-acid-derived structure, so the word describes a molecule by its ingredients, much like a recipe written in Latin and Greek. The result is a name built for precision rather than everyday speech. Its meaning is fixed by the chemistry it labels, and the two halves keep their original senses of vinegar and milk, which is the only history the word carries.