Imidic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or containing the imide functional group, a chemical structure with two acyl groups bonded to a single nitrogen atom
2. Describing a chemical compound or structure that contains the imide group, made of a nitrogen atom linked to two carbonyl groups
3. Of or pertaining to imides, organic compounds in which a nitrogen atom is bonded to two acyl groups

Etymology: "Imidic" is a chemistry term built in two steps. The base, "imide," comes from "amide," which itself was formed by combining "ammonia" with the suffix "-ide," used in chemistry for compounds of a certain type. "Ammonia" traces back to the Egyptian god Amun, whose Greek name was Ammon and whose Latin form Ammon gave rise to "ammoniacus," meaning of or pertaining to the salt that was gathered near his shrine in Libya. The suffix "-ic" is the familiar adjective ending meaning "having the character of" or "relating to." It reached English through Middle English "-ik" and "-ic," ultimately from Latin "-icus," which came down through Old French as "-ique." Adding it to "imide" produced an adjective describing things connected to imide chemistry, a term chemists use for molecules containing the nitrogen-based group known as the imide structure.