ScienceAugust 27, 2026

lignan

LIG-nan

Definition

A type of chemical compound found in plants that often acts as an antioxidant.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'lignum', meaning 'wood', as these compounds are widely found in the cell walls of many vascular plants.

In the news

In this article, the term refers to the specific antioxidant compound sesamin, which the parasitic dodder plant became able to produce after acquiring the CYP81Q gene.

Parasitic plants act like genetic engineers by stealing and remodeling useful genes

Read the full article ↗

Asia Research News |

Related words

birefringence

An optical phenomenon where a material or medium causes a beam of light to be split into…

Science

cytochrome

A type of protein found in cells that plays a key role in electron transport and chemical…

Science

dodder

A type of parasitic plant that lacks chlorophyll, wraps around a host plant, and draws…

Science

intron

A segment of a DNA or RNA molecule that does not code for proteins and is removed during…

Science

magnetar

A rare, highly dense type of neutron star characterized by an extremely powerful magnetic…

Science

parasitism

The practice of one organism living on or inside another and obtaining nutrients at the…

Science

Learn a word like this every day

Meet one new word every morning.

Newspoken pulls one carefully chosen word from the day’s news — with a clear definition, context, and light review that makes it stick. Get it on your phone.