ptomaine

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun any of various amines (such as putrescine or cadaverine) formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria
noun a term for food poisoning that is no longer in scientific use; food poisoning was once thought to be caused by ingesting ptomaines

From French ptomaïne, from Italian ptomaina, from Ancient Greek πτῶμα (ptôma, “corpse”).

The Count had his own purposes when he gave her what Van Helsing called “the Vampire’s baptism of blood.” Well, there may be a poison that distils itself out of good things; in an age when the existence of ptomaines is a mystery we should not wonder at anything! — Dracula, Bram Stoker
If you were a sociable person, he was quite willing to enter into conversation with you, and to explain to you the deadly nature of the ptomaines which are found in tubercular pork; and while he was talking with you you could hardly be so ungrateful as to notice that a dozen carcasses were passing him untouched. — The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
My gold has opened a way for me and wheresoever I have beheld greed in the most execrable forms, sometimes hypocritical, sometimes shameless, sometimes cruel, fatten on the dead organism, like a vulture on a corpse, I have asked myself—why was there not, festering in its vitals, the corruption, the ptomaine, the poison of the tombs, to kill the foul bird? — The Reign of Greed, José Rizal

ptomain

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