pyrene

¹

[ pahy-reen, pahy-reen ]

noun

, Botany.

1. a putamen or stone, especially when there are several in a single fruit; a nutlet.

pyrene

²

[ pahy-reen ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a polycyclic, aromatic crystalline hydrocarbon, C 1 6 H 1 0 , consisting of four fused benzene rings, found in coal tar and believed to be carcinogenic.

pyrene

¹

/ ˈpaɪriːn /

noun

1. botany any of several small hard stones that occur in a single fruit and contain a single seed each

pyrene

²

/ ˈpaɪriːn /

noun

1. a solid polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon extracted from coal tar. Formula: C 16 H 10

Word History and Origins

Origin of pyrene¹

1830–40; < New Latin pȳrēna < Greek pȳrḗn fruit stone

Origin of pyrene²

First recorded in 1880–85; pyr- + -ene

Word History and Origins

Origin of pyrene¹

C19: from New Latin pyrena, from Greek purēn

Origin of pyrene²

C19: from pyro- + -ene

Example Sentences

Others of the crew, who had hastily donned masks to protect themselves from the choking vapour, were busily engaged in hurling pyrene into the seat of the conflagration.

From Project Gutenberg

From the tar distillate, the chrysene can be fractionally precipitated, and the fluoranthene can be separated from most of the pyrene by fractional distillation in a partial vacuum.

From Project Gutenberg