Capric

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A saturated fatty acid with ten carbon atoms, found naturally in milk fat and coconut oil
2. A ten-carbon saturated fatty acid occurring in butter, goat milk and palm kernel oil
3. The decanoic acid, a medium-chain fatty acid present in dairy fat and certain plant oils

Etymology: Capric acid, the fatty acid that gives goat's milk and some cheeses their sharp, barnyard tang, takes its name straight from the animal. The Latin word "caper" meant "goat," and chemists added the adjectival suffix "-ic" to form a term describing substances derived from or linked to goats. The name reflects the smell that goat fat and milk give off, which is the quality that first drew attention to the compound. The same root gives English several other words. "Caprine," meaning goat-like, comes from the same Latin stem, and the goat's own scientific genus, "Capra," shares it too. Chemistry then followed a pattern of naming acids after their sources, so a family of fatty acids with similar odours received names built on animal or plant origins.