OT: 'deoxiribos'

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andreas Johansson" <and_yo@...>
> Well, 'deoxiribos' is a kind of sugar. Together with nucleinic acids it
> forms DNA.
[snip]
> FWIW, the prefix 'deoxi-' means something like "without oxygen" - if you
add
> an atom of oxygen to deoxiribos you get another kind of sugar called
> 'ribos'. What 'ribos' itself means, I haven't found out, but the ending
> '-os' indicates that we're dealing with a kind of sugar.
BTW, it's easier to recognize as 'deoxyribose'.

My dictionary says "ribose" is "from German Ribon(säure), a tetrahydroxyl
acid from which ribose is obtained : Ribon-, arbitrary alteration of English
arabinose, ribose : (gum) arab(ic) + -in + -ose + Säure, acid."   That's
quite a big etymology for such a short word.

     *Muke!
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