Hemicellulose
/ˌhɛmiˈsɛl.jʊˌloʊs/noun
A group of polysaccharides found in plant cell walls that are less rigid and more easily broken down than cellulose.
Did you know?Hemicellulose was coined in modern scientific Latin from Greek and Latin roots, showing how chemistry often names nature by measuring what it is *not* as much as what it is.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱel-
“to cover, conceal”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἡμι- (hēmi-)
“half”
Latin
Latin
cella
“small room, chamber”
18th–19th Century
Scientific Latin
hemicellulosa
“a cellulose-like plant substance”
Modern English
English
hemicellulose
“a class of plant cell-wall polysaccharides”