eosin

E1O1S1I1N1
/ˈi.əsɪn/

noun

A red, acidic dye commonly used in histological stains.

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Meanings

nouneosin (countable and uncountable, plural eosins)

plural eosins

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA red, acidic dye commonly used in histological stains.

    The hematoxylin and eosin stain (H&E) is the most widely used histological stain.

    2012, John D. Bancroft, Christopher Layton, “10: The hemotoxylins and eosin”, in S. Kim Suvarna, Christopher Layton, John D. Bancroft, editors, Bancroft's Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques, 7th edition, page 173
    2 more examples

    Thus the fluorescence of the familiar dye eosin can be excited quite well by ultra-violet or short-wave blue light, but is much better excited by visible green light with a wavelength close to that of the emitted radiation.

    1999, Dan J. Goldstein, Understanding the Light Microscope, page 91

    Eosins are acid xanthene or phthalein dyes. Eosin Y, eosin B, phloxine and erythrosin (which unlike other eosins, is halogenated with iodine), are the common members of this group of dyes.

    2000, J. Ochei, A. Kolhatkar, Medical Laboratory Science: Theory And Practice, page 450

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna red fluorescent dye resulting from the action of bromine on fluorescein; used in cosmetics and as a biological stain for studying cell structures

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἠώς“dawn”
  2. GermanEosin
  3. Englisheosin

Borrowed from German Eosin, coined by Heinrich Caro, from Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”) + -in.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan eosina
  • eosinared, acidic dye
Dutch eosine, roodsel
  • eosinered, acidic dye
  • roodselred, acidic dye
Finnish eosiini
  • eosiinired, acidic dye
French éosine
  • éosinered, acidic dye
German Eosin
  • Eosinred, acidic dye
Italian eosina
  • eosinared, acidic dye
Spanish eosina
  • eosinared, acidic dye
Swedish eosin
  • eosinred, acidic dye

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

eosin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eosin

MLA

“eosin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eosin. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eosin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eosin.

Source: eosin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.