Amylum

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A polysaccharide that is a common carbohydrate, composed of glucose units and serving as a storage form of energy in plants
2. A non-digestible carbohydrate that can be converted to glucose through hydrolysis, commonly found in tubers and grains
3. A key component of starch, formed by linear and branched chains, which is utilized in various food and industrial processes

Etymology: Ancient Greeks coined the word "ámulon" from "a-", meaning "not", and "mýlē", meaning "mill", so the name literally means "not ground" in a mill. The starch was prized because it could be made from wheat without the coarse grinding that flour required, the sort of fine, soft powder that a millstone did not produce. The Latin "amylum" carried the same sense and passed into European languages, and English took the word directly from Latin in the sense of plant starch. The word has stayed close to its chemical meaning, so the Greek image of a substance that escapes the mill is still visible in the term.

Synonyms: starch, amylose, amylopectin, carbohydrate, polysaccharide