ricin
noun
Simple meaning
A toxic protein extracted from castor beans.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihsinIPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪsɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
biochemistrytoxicology
A toxic protein extracted from castor beans; used as a chemical reagent; can be used as a bioweapon
“One milligram of ricin can kill an adult.”
biochemistrytoxicology
An extremely toxic lectin extracted from the castor bean.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A toxic protein extracted from castor beans; used as a chemical reagent; can be used as a bioweapon
Used this way, ricin is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
“One milligram of ricin can kill an adult.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ricin
- “One milligram of ricin can kill an adult.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A toxic protein extracted from castor beans.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Large shrub of tropical Africa and Asia having large palmate leaves and spiny capsules containing seeds that are the source of castor oil and ricin.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.