Chem. [f. TRI- 5 (irregularly used) + GLYCERIDE.] A compound in which three acid radicals are united by oxygen to glyceryl; i.e., they replace the three H atoms of the OH gronps in glycerin or glycerol, C3H5(OH)3; e.g., stearin is called the triglyceride of stearic acid.
1860. Debus, in Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc., XII. 243.
1895. Lewkowitsch, Benedikt’s Oils, Fats, Waxes, 46. Glycerol … deporting itself like a trihydric base, is able to combine with three radicles of fatty acids…. The resulting compounds are called ‘triglycerides.’
1912. Thorpe, Dict. App. Chem. (ed. 2), I. 577. The glycerides of butter fat contain butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids, as triglycerides.
