a colourless crystalline solid that can be prepared from uric acid. Formula: C5H4N4
2. Also called: purine base
any of a number of nitrogenous bases, such as guanine and adenine, that are derivatives of purine and constituents of nucleic acids and certain coenzymes
Word origin
C19: from German Purin; see pure, uric, -ine2
purine in American English
(ˈpjʊrˌin; ˈpjʊrɪn)
noun
1.
a colorless, crystalline organic compound, C5H4N4, the parent substance of the uric-acid group of compounds
2.
any of several basic substances produced by the decomposition of nucleoproteins and having a purine-type molecule, as caffeine, adenine, or guanine
Word origin
Ger purin < L purus, pure + ModL uricum, uric acid + -in, -ine3
Examples of 'purine' in a sentence
purine
All the Arbroath smokies, the oak-smoked kippers, the tinned pilchards, the wild salmon leaping up the glens -- all that purine.