a colourless tricyclic crystalline solid having a slight blue fluorescence, used in the manufacture of chemicals, esp diphenylamine and alizarin, and as crystals in scintillation counters. Formula: C6H4(CH)2C6H4
Word origin
C19: from anthrax + -ene
anthracene in American English
(ˈænθrəˌsin)
noun
a crystalline cyclic hydrocarbon, C6H4(CH)2C6H4, a product of coal-tar distillation used in making alizarin dyes and as a detector of radiation