Safranin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A vibrant synthetic dye commonly used in biological staining to improve visibility of cells and tissues in microscopic analysis
2. A chemical agent applied in microscopy to color specimens, aiding in the differentiation and examination of cellular structures
3. A synthetic dye used in biology to color cell components for microscopic study

Etymology: Safranin is a dye whose name carries its colour in its ancestry. It comes from French "safranine", built from "safran", the French word for saffron, the spice made from crocus stigmas, with the chemical suffix "-ine" added on. The name points to the dye's hue: the orange-red shade that saffron yields, which is what the first synthetic members of this family were chosen to imitate. The suffix does the chemical work. "-ine" is a common ending for organic compounds and dyes derived from other substances, so the word reads as "saffron-like substance", a label that places the dye in the same family of names as aniline, which was itself named after the indigo plant that once supplied the raw material. Biologists adopted the dye because it stains tissue vividly, and the name stuck with it into laboratory use.

Synonyms: dye, stain