indole
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (1)indoles
- a white or yellowish crystalline heterocyclic compound extracted from coal tar and used in perfumery, medicine, and as a flavouring agent.“Indole is widely distributed in the natural environment and can be produced by a variety of bacteria.”Type of heterocyclic compound, heterocyclicPart of pindolol, psilocybin, reserpine, melatonin +7 more
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
In′dole, In′dol (ĭn′dōl), noun
Origin: Indigo + -ol of phenol.
Chem., Physiol. Chem. A white, crystalline substance, C8H7N, obtained from blue indigo, and almost all indigo derivatives, by a process of reduction; chemically, it is 2,3-benzopyrrole, a bicyclic heterocyclic compound, having a benzene ring fused to a pyrrole ring. It is also formed from proteinaceous matter, together with skatol, by putrefaction, and by fusion with caustic potash, and is present in human excrement, as well as in the intestinal canal of some herbivora. It is produced in rich growth media by the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: +PJC