Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The white of an egg, which consists mainly of albumin dissolved in water.
- n. See albumin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The white of an egg; hence, an animal and vegetable principle which occurs in its purest natural form in the white of an egg: in the latter sense more correctly called albumin (which see).
- n. In botany, any form of nutritive matter, whatever its chemical constitution, stored within the seed and about the embryo. It may be farinaceous, as in the cereals; oily and fleshy, as in many nuts; horny, as in the coffee-berry; or bony, as in the vegetable ivory. Also called
endosperm .
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The white of an egg.
- n. Nourishing matter stored up within the integuments of the seed in many plants, but not incorporated in the embryo. It is the floury part in corn, wheat, and like grains, the oily part in poppy seeds, the fleshy part in the cocoanut, etc.
- n. Same as Albumin.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a simple water-soluble protein found in many animal tissues and liquids
- n. the white part of an egg; the nutritive and protective gelatinous substance surrounding the yolk consisting mainly of albumin dissolved in water
Etymologies
- Latin albūmen, from albus, white; see albho- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Protein-secreting cells in the oviduct lining add a thickening layer to its membrane, and then coat it with about half the final volume of the egg white, or albumen from the Latin albus, meaning “white”.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“In regard to the soluble nitrogenous matter usually called albumen, from its resemblance to the animal substance of the same name, I have to remark that in my trials the proportion has been found to be considerably less than that often given in tables of the composition of wheat.”
“Then, with this two-edged sword of disaster, the urea, which becomes a poisonous element, and should be removed, is retained in the system, while the albumen, which is essential to healthy blood, is filtered away through the diseased kidney.”
“The substance in meat called albumen becomes tougher and more indigestible, the higher the temperature to which it is subjected reaches beyond a certain point.”
“The seed of Pinus contains an embryo, with the cotyledons clearly defined, embedded in albumen, which is protected by a bony testa with an external membranous spermoderm, produced, in most species, into an effective wing.”
“By the application of heat, or the addition of a few drops of nitric acid, the albumen, which is invariably present in Bright's disease of the kidneys, is coagulated.”
“This albumen, which is also the chief component of the white of eggs, possesses the peculiarity of coagulating or hardening at a certain temperature, like the white of a boiled egg, into a soft, white fluid, no longer soluble, or capable of being dissolved in water.”
“This conclusion has lately been beautifully confirmed by a distinguished physiologist (Denis), who has succeeded in converting fibrine into albumen, that is, in giving it the solubility, and coagulability by heat, which characterise the white of egg.”
“The yolk is than coated with a protein containing substance called albumen or egg white.”
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