NYT Dictionary
BETAINE
/ˈbiːtə.ˌiːn/NounBE-ta-inebe-ta-ine · 3 syllablesCollege
Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2020
Meaning
A sweet, crystalline compound (not an alkaloid), trimethylammoniumacetate, found in sugar beet and similar plants, sometimes used to treat muscular degeneracy; the zwitterion (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂COO⁻
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
Etymology tree Latin bēta Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ine English betaine From New Latin, from Latin bēta (“beet”) + -ine.
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2020.