Aspartame

/əˈspɑːrteɪm/ noun

An artificial sweetener made from two amino acids (aspartic acid and phenylalanine) that is much sweeter than sugar but nearly calorie-free.

From 'aspartic acid' + 'phenylalanine' (two amino acids that make up the compound) + '-ame' (chemical suffix). It was discovered accidentally in 1965 by a chemist who noticed his fingertip tasted sweet.

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