A polysaccharide or carbohydrate related to starch, sometimes used as a food additive or thickening agent.
From Latin amylum (starch) plus the suffix -an used in chemistry to denote polysaccharides and polymers. This naming convention groups it with other substances like dextran, glucan, and xylan.
The -an suffix in chemistry groups entire families of giant molecules (polysaccharides)—dextran, glucan, inulan—so amylan is part of a naming convention that helps scientists immediately understand a molecule's basic category just from its ending.
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