butyric, a. Chem.
(bjuːˈtɪrɪk)
[f. as prec. + -ic.]
Of or pertaining to butter, esp. in reference to its chemical constitution and formation. Hence:
1. butyric acid, the monatomic, monobasic, fatty acid of the butyl series, C4H8O2, of which there are two modifications, normal butyric and isobutyric acid; the former occurring in butter, cod-liver oil, and other substances, is a colourless viscous liquid, with a smell suggestive of both vinegar and rancid butter. Its salts are butyrates.
| 1826 [see butyr-]. 1839–47 Todd Cycl. Anat. III. 359/1 Chevreul..has named them the butyric, caproic, and capric acids. 1845 G. E. Day Simon's Anim. Chem. I. 78 By..fermentation butyric acid may be obtained from sugar..the fermentation, at first viscous, subsequently lactic, gradually becomes butyric. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (ed. 6) II. xii. 275 Air..is according to Pasteur, absolutely deadly to the vibrios which provoke the butyric acid fermentation. |
2. butyric series: the series of compound bodies related to butyric acid, or containing the radical butyryl, C4H7O; as butyric aldehyde, C4H8O; butyric ether or ethyl butyrate, C2H5·C4H7O2, a colourless oily liquid, having a pleasant fruity odour; butyric anhydride or butyric oxide (C4H7O)2O.
| 1854 Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 109 Butyric ether and butyric methyl ether. 1863 Watts Dict. Chem. (1879) I. 695 To the presence of small quantities of butyric ether, the peculiar flavour of pine-apples, melons, and some other fruits is due. Ibid. Butyric anhydride is a colourless, very mobile, and highly refracting liquid. |
Hence buˈtyrically adv.
| 1876 tr. Schutzenberger's Ferment. 209 A great number of compounds are susceptible of fermenting butyrically. |