Meanings
- obsoleteuncountablebiologyA substance isolated from flowers and thought to act as a white pigment.
The dissolved colouring-matters are, in white flowers, antholeucin, in blue anthocyanin.
1886, S. H. Vines, “Lecture XII”, in Lectures on the Physiology of Plants, page 2422 more examples
This in the case of yellow flowers is anthoxanthin; of white flowers, antholeucin; of blue flowers, anthocyanin, etc.
1889 December 28, J. H. Pillsbury, “Biological Notes”, in The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, volume 10, number 12, page 276There is such a thing as white flower-pigment (antholeucin), but in most cases the petals or sepals are white, just as foam is white, because of innumerable gas-bubbles in the cells.
1920, John Arthur Thomson, Biology of the Seasons, page 92
Origin
From antho- + Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + -in.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
antholeucin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antholeucin
“antholeucin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antholeucin. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antholeucin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antholeucin.
Source: antholeucin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.