Oxin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chemical compound, also called 8-hydroxyquinoline, used in laboratories to detect and precipitate metal ions
2. An organic reagent, known chemically as 8-hydroxyquinoline, that forms insoluble complexes with many metals in analysis
3. A laboratory chemical called 8-hydroxyquinoline, employed as a reagent for identifying and separating metallic elements

Etymology: Oxin is a chemist's coinage rather than a word with an ancient past. It names 8-hydroxyquinoline, a compound used as a reagent for detecting and measuring metal ions, and its name was built from parts that describe its structure. The "ox-" element points to the oxygen atom in the hydroxy group attached to the ring. The "-in" ending comes from quinoline, the parent ring system of the molecule. Quinoline itself was named after quinine, the bitter alkaloid from cinchona bark, so the ending carries a trace of that older plant-derived name.