A viscous, waxy compound derived from fish liver oil, historically used in various medical and industrial applications.
From Latin coelum (sky) or possibly from Greek koilos (hollow), the etymology is uncertain. Likely coined in the 19th century during early biochemistry when fish-derived compounds were being isolated and named.
Coelin is basically the mysterious gunk that scientists extracted from fish livers and tried to use for medicine—its origin story is lost because it was discovered when chemists were just randomly isolating compounds.
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