Pectin
/ˈpɛk.tɪn/noun
A natural polysaccharide found in plant cell walls, especially in fruit, used as a gelling agent in jams and jellies.
Did you know?Pectin comes from the same Latin root as words for combing and fixing in place, because scientists named it for the way it forms a structured, mesh-like gel.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
πηκτός (pēktós)
“coagulated, curdled, congealed”
Latin
Latin
pĕcten
“comb”
Late 18th Century
French
pectine
“a jelly-forming substance in fruit”
1825
English
pectin
“the gelling substance first identified in fruit”