Toxalbumin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A toxic protein that is produced by certain plants or microorganisms which can inhibit cellular function and lead to illness or death
2. A harmful protein generated by specific plants or bacteria that can impair cellular processes and cause disease or fatalities
3. An injurious protein synthesized by particular flora or microorganisms that may disrupt cell function and result in health complications or mortality

Etymology: Toxalbumin is a compound built from two words with very different pedigrees. Its first part, "toxin," goes back to ancient Greek, where "toxon" meant a bow, and "toxa" meant arrows. Latin borrowed the idea as "toxicum," a poison used on arrowheads, and the notion of a poison-tipped weapon eventually gave us the modern sense of a harmful substance. The second part, "albumin," comes from Latin "albumen," meaning egg white, itself from "albus," white. Protein in egg white gave chemists their name for a whole family of soluble proteins. The term was first used around 1890 by the research chemists Ludwig Brieger and Sigmund Fraenkel, who needed a name for poisonous proteins produced by plants. Joining the two elements described exactly what they had found: a toxin whose chemical nature was protein, like the albumin in an egg.