xanthophyll

or xan·tho·phyl

[ zan-thuh-fil ]

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. lutein ( def 1 ).

xanthophyll

/ ˈzænθəʊfɪl /

noun

1. any of a group of yellow carotenoid pigments occurring in plant and animal tissue

xanthophyll

/ zăn′thə-fĭl′ /

1. Any of various yellow pigments occurring in the leaves of plants and giving young shoots and late autumn leaves their characteristic color. This color is masked by chlorophyll when the leaf is mature. Xanthophylls aid in the absorption of light by capturing certain wavelengths not captured by chlorophyll and rapidly transferring the energy to chlorophyll by boosting one of its electrons to a higher energy level. Xanthophylls are carotenoids, differing from carotenes in having one or more oxygen-containing groups attached.
2. See also carotene

Derived Forms

• ˌxanthoˈphyllous, adjective

Other Words From

• xantho·phyllous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of xanthophyll¹

From the French word xanthophylle, dating back to 1830–40. See xantho-, -phyll

Example Sentences

The team has been working with three genes that code for proteins of the xanthophyll cycle.

From BBC

I told him about the xanthophyll inventory I had made in my own garden — how it seemed to be everywhere.

From Washington Post

Instead of leaf shapes and enlarged diagrams of the holes the leaves breathe through and fascinating words like carotene and xanthophyll on the blackboard, there were these hideous, cramped, scorpion-lettered formulas in Mr. Manzi's special red chalk I knew chemistry would be worse, because I'd seen a big chart of the ninety-odd elements hung up in the chemistry lab, and all the perfectly good words like gold and silver and cobalt and aluminum were shortened to ugly abbreviations with different decimal numbers after them.

From Literature

Once the chlorophyll disappears, other substances like carotene and xanthophyll — which have been present all along but masked by the green of summertime — begin to show.

From Time

Xanthophyll, zan′thō-fil, n. any one of certain yellow pigments contained in leaves.

From Project Gutenberg