Cyanin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A blue pigment present in various plant dyes and found in some fruits
2. A type of chemical compound associated with blue coloration in biological organisms and floral arrangements
3. An organic dye used in art and decoration, typically associated with shades of blue and green

Etymology: "Cyanin" is a simple chemical coinage: it is formed from "cyan," the blue colour name, plus the suffix "-in," used in English to name chemical substances and pigments. The "-in" ending traces back through Latin "-inus" and Old French "-in" to a much older Indo-European suffix meaning "of, belonging to," which is why it turns up so widely in chemistry, from proteins to dyes. The suffix itself reached English through Middle English, where "-in" was already common in words borrowed from French. Chemists then adopted it freely for naming substances, so the word reads as a plain description: a compound of the blue colour named after "cyan." The "cyan" element is itself the modern colour term, which gives the whole word a straightforward, descriptive logic rather than a story of a single inventor.

Synonyms: anthocyanin, cyanidin