# vitamin

Pronunciation: say "VY-tuh-min" US /ˈvaɪ.tə.mɪn/, AUS /ˈvɑɪ.tə.mən/; UK say "VIT-uh-min" /ˈvɪt.ə.mɪn/

## Noun

1. Any of a group of organic compounds the body needs in small amounts for healthy growth, metabolism, and normal function, found in foods or made synthetically.
   - Simple: A substance the body needs in tiny amounts to stay healthy and grow well.
   - _Each vitamin plays a distinct role in keeping the body functioning._
   - _A balanced diet usually supplies all the vitamins a person needs._
2. Used before a word or its first letter to suggest, often playfully, that the thing it names is good for one's health or wellbeing. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used before another word to joke that the thing named is good for your health or mood.
   - _Surfers half-jokingly prescribe each other vitamin sea whenever life gets stressful._
   - _He insists his weekend hikes give him a hit of vitamin nature that no pill can match._

## Verb

3. To add vitamins to a food or other product in order to increase its nutritional value. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To add vitamins to a food or drink to make it healthier.
   - _Producers vitamin their margarine to match the nutritional profile of butter._
   - _The factory vitamined its flour during the war to combat widespread deficiency._

## Origin

First appearing as "vitamine" in 1912, the word combines Latin "vīta" ("life") with "amine". It was coined by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk after the discovery of thiamine, when it was believed all such nutrients would be amines. When it turned out that vitamin C and others had no amine component, British biochemist Jack Drummond proposed in 1920 dropping the final -e to play down the amine reference, and he also introduced the lettering system (Vitamin A, B, C, etc.).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/vitamin (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).