tholin.
Any of several poorly classified heteropolymers derived from simple hydrocarbons and ammonia formed by solar irradiation in the atmospheres of icy planets and moons.
Meaning & usage
Any of several poorly classified heteropolymers derived from simple hydrocarbons and ammonia formed by solar irradiation in the atmospheres of icy planets and moons.
Where this word comes from
From Ancient Greek θολός (tholós, “muddy”) + -in. Coined by Carl Sagan and Bishun Khare in 1979. From the muddy coloration that this class of chemical compounds appear to have, when observed on the Saturnian moon Titan, and from Miller–Urey-style experiments.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.