saponin

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: sap=o=nin

CIDE DICTIONARY

saponin, n. [L. sapo, -onis soap: cf. F. saponine.].

 A poisonous glucoside found in many plants, as in the root of soapwort (Saponaria), in the bark of soap bark (Quillaia), etc. It is extracted as a white amorphous powder, which occasions a soapy lather in solution, and produces a local anæsthesia. Formerly called also struthiin, quillaiin, senegin, polygalic acid, etc. By extension, any one of a group of related bodies of which saponin proper is the type.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

saponin, n. any of a group of plant glycosides, esp. those derived from the bark of the tree Quillaja saponaria, that foam when shaken with water and are used in detergents and fire extinguishers.

Etymology

F saponine f. L sapo -onis soap