Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Theobromine
/ˌθiːəˈbroʊmiːn/noun
The mild stimulant alkaloid in cacao, chemically a close relative of caffeine.
The Greek roots
θεός
theós
god
βρῶμα
brôma
food
Literally: “food of the gods”
The story of the word
The name comes from the tree, not the drug: Linnaeus called cacao Theobroma, food of the gods, and chemists took the genus when the compound was isolated in 1841. There is no bromine in it, which catches out roughly everyone on first meeting. Dogs clear theobromine several times more slowly than humans do, and that difference alone is why chocolate poisons them.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
theologyapotheosisenthusiasmpantheon
In a sentence
Dark chocolate carries enough theobromine to keep some people awake.