Oligosaccharide
/ˌɒlɪɡəʊˈsækəraɪd/noun
A carbohydrate made of a small number of monosaccharide units linked together.
Did you know?The “saccharide” element ultimately traces to Sanskrit śarkarā, meaning “gravel” or “sugar crystals,” which passed through Persian and Arabic before reaching European scientific language.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European period
PIE
*h₁leǵ-
“A reconstructed root associated with collecting or selecting, often proposed in the ancestry of Greek oligos, though the connection is not completely certain.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ὀλίγος (oligos)
“Few; little; small in number.”
Ancient India
Sanskrit
शर्करा (śarkarā)
“Pebbles, gravel, or sugar crystals—named for sugar’s grainy appearance.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
σάκχαρον (sákkharon)
“Sugar; a borrowing ultimately related to the Sanskrit term through ancient trade languages.”
19th Century
Scientific Latin
saccharidum
“A sugar or carbohydrate compound; formed with the scientific suffix -ide.”
20th Century
English
oligosaccharide
“A carbohydrate containing a small chain of sugar units, contrasted with monosaccharides and polysaccharides.”