Cyanogenic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing compounds that generate cyanide through hydrolysis
2. Relating to substances that release cyanide when they decompose or are chemically broken down
3. Pertaining to chemicals containing groups that liberate cyanide ions during a reaction with water or enzymes

Etymology: Cyanogenic is a plain technical coinage: it combines "cyano-", from the Greek "kuanos" meaning dark blue, with the English suffix "-genic", meaning producing or giving rise to. The blue in question is the colour of Prussian blue, the pigment whose name relates to the cyanide-containing compounds chemists first studied, so the word literally means "producing the dark blue substance," a reference to cyanide's chemical heritage rather than to anything blue in the plants or substances themselves. The Greek source word "kuanos" was used for dark blue substances such as lapis lazuli and enamel, and it was the root from which the chemical prefix "cyano-" was formed in the nineteenth century. Cyanide itself was named from the same root, and the modern term "cyanogenetic" built on "cyano-" with "genetic," meaning producing or generating. The alternative form "cyanogenic" is the one most commonly used today.