a. [f. L. caper, capr-um goat + -IC. Cf. F. caprique.]
1. Of or belonging to a goat (nonce-use).
1881. Academy, No. 491. 252. Capric and porcine flesh.
2. Chem. a. Capric acid (C10 H20 O2), a fatty acid obtained from butter, cocoa-nut oil, fusel oil, etc.: a colorless crystalline body, having a slight odor of the goat. Otherwise known as rutic acid, the name preferred by various chemists, who would apply capric to what is otherwise called caprylic. (Formerly sometimes caprinic acid).
1836. Penny Cycl., VI. 273/1. Capric acid crystallizes in small needles.
1853. F. Hall, in Ledlie’s Misc., II. 183. The odour in question … may possibly be influenced by the formation of capric acid, a much more pungent substance than the caproic acid of the fair subject.
b. Capric series: the series of chemical compounds allied to capric acid, as capric aldehyde, etc.
From same source Capramide, the primary amide of capric acid (formerly called Caprinamide). Caprone, the ketone of the capric series. Also CAPRATE, CAPRYL, q.v.
