ptomaine
/ˈptəʊmeɪn/noun
- Chemistry, dated any of a group of amine compounds of unpleasant taste and odour formed in putrefying animal and vegetable matter and formerly thought to cause food poisoning【化】〈旧〉尸碱, 尸毒。
词源
late 19th cent.: from French ptomaïne,from Italian ptomaina,formed irregularly from Greek ptōma 'corpse'.