Meaning
A natural phenolic organic compound that occurs in many species of lichen, used in the production of orcein and as a reagent in some chemical tests for pentoses
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Italic *auzis Latin auris Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Proto-Italic *-kelos Latin -cula Latin auricula Latin ōriculader. Italian oricelloder. Arabic [script needed] ('urjālla)influ. Old Catalan orxellader. Old French orchel French orseilleder. Dutch orseilleder. New Latin orcinader. French orcineder. English orcin Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic كُحُول (kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholbor. Middle English alcofol English alcohol English -ol English orcinol From orcin + -ol.
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 2021, 2022, 2026.