diosgenin

[ dahy-oz-jen-in, dahy-oz-juh-nin ]

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. a crystalline compound, C 27 H 42 O 3 , the aglycone of dioscin: used in the synthesis of steroidal hormones, as of progesterone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of diosgenin¹

< German Diosgenin (1936), equivalent to New Latin Dios ( corea ) the yam genus from which it was first extracted, irregular after Dioscorides 1st-century a.d. Greek physician + German -genin; -gen, -in ²