Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An atom other than carbon or hydrogen in the structure of an organic compound, especially in a heterocyclic compound.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry Any atom in a heterocyclic ring (or other structure normally built of carbon atoms) that is not a carbon atom.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From hetero- +‎ atom.

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