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-ose
open-in-new
<p>The <a href="/facts/Affix/MKeAIE7e">suffix</a> <i>-ose</i> is used in <a href="/facts/Organic_chemistry/djxhxaNg">organic chemistry</a> to form the names of <a href="/facts/Sugar/jb5KXRHT">sugars</a>. This Latin suffix means "full of", "abounding in", "given to", or "like". Numerous systems exist to name specific sugars more descriptively. The suffix is also used more generally in English to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense "full of", as in "verbose": wordy, full of words. </p><p><a href="/facts/Monosaccharide/yzs2d6Eq">Monosaccharides</a>, the simplest sugars, may be named according to the number of <a href="/facts/Carbon/ukrgQexo">carbon</a> atoms in each molecule of the sugar: <a href="/facts/Pentose/BScECY9L">pentose</a> is a five-carbon monosaccharide, and <a href="/facts/Hexose/ooxIWuDL">hexose</a> is a six-carbon monosaccharide. <a href="/facts/Aldehyde/xSIRkW03">Aldehyde</a> monosaccharides may be called <a href="/facts/Aldose/hKGwqzFj">aldoses</a>; <a href="/facts/Ketone/BqQXpLo4">ketone</a> monosaccharides may be called <a href="/facts/Ketose/kLknGRje">ketoses</a>. </p><p>Larger sugars such as <a href="/facts/Disaccharide/9dnUQggw">disaccharides</a> and <a href="/facts/Polysaccharide/lqXq2cJU">polysaccharides</a> can be named to reflect their qualities. <a href="/facts/Lactose/lBa5ozYk">Lactose</a>, a disaccharide found in <a href="/facts/Milk/wDJBUHvy">milk</a>, gets its name from the <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> word for milk combined with the sugar suffix; its name means "milk sugar". The polysaccharide that makes up plant <a href="/facts/Starch/gHAqGfJb">starch</a> is named <a href="/facts/Amylose/FJBcmQ2v">amylose</a>, or "starch sugar"; see amyl. </p><p>There are two predominant theories about the origin of the <i>-ose</i> suffix in chemistry: </p> <ol><li>Derived from <a href="/facts/Glucose/oUSkoLCD">glucose</a>, an important hexose whose name came from Greek γλυκύς = "sweet".</li> <li>Derived from <a href="/facts/Sucrose/7y1ke94L">sucrose</a>, whose name came from Latin <i>sucrum</i> = "sugar" plus the common Latin adjective-forming suffix <i>-ōsus</i>; Latin <i>sucrosus</i> would mean "sugary".</li></ol>