capsaicin

English

Etymology

Arbitrary alteration of earlier capsicine, capsicin (“material extracted from cayenne pepper”), presumably to prevent confusion, from German Capsicin, from New Latin capsicum + German -in. Name introduced by John Clough Thresh (1850–1932) in “Capsaicin, the Active Principle of Capsicum Fruits”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kæpˈseɪəsən/, /kæpˈseɪsən/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Noun

capsaicin (usually uncountable, plural capsaicins)

1. (organic chemistry) A chemical compound found in chilli peppers, which is responsible for their piquancy.

Derived terms

• capsaicinoid
• dihydrocapsaicin
• homocapsaicin
• homodihydrocapsaicin

 

Related terms

• capsicum

 

Translations

chemical compound

• Catalan: capsaïcina f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 辣椒素 (zh) (làjiāosù), 辣椒鹼 / 辣椒碱 (zh) (làjiāojiǎn)

• Czech: kapsaicin (cs) m
• Finnish: kapsaisiini (fi)
• German: Capsaicin n
• Greek: καψαϊκίνη (el) f (kapsaïkíni)
• Hungarian: kapszaicin (hu)
• Icelandic: kapsaísín n, capsæsín n
• Italian: capsaicina (it) f
• Polish: kapsaicyna (pl) f
• Portuguese: capsaicina (pt) f
• Russian: капсаици́н (ru) f (kapsaicín)
• Spanish: capsaicina (es) f
• Swedish: capsaicin n
• Turkish: kapsaisin

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