xantho- Before a vowel xanth-.
Yellow.
[Greek xanthos. yellow.]
A xanthoma is an irregular yellow patch or nodule on the skin, caused by deposition of lipids; xanthene is a yellowish crystalline compound, whose derivatives include brilliant, often fluorescent dyes such as fluorescein; xanthophyll (Greek phullon, leaf) is a yellow or brown carotenoid plant pigment which causes the autumn colours of leaves; organic salts containing the ion ==OCS2 are xanthates, because the first example known produced a yellow precipitate with copper sulphate.
Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!
Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.