vitamin G
- noun
- Archaic
:
vitamina G
- Early studies showed that vitamin G deficiency in animals resulted in skin problems.
Examples
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The food label still mentioned vitamin G, though it now lists riboflavin in parentheses.
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Before vitamins were fully understood, scientists referred to riboflavin as vitamin G.
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You should include vitamin G in your diet.
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Many foods are rich in vitamin G.
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Before vitamins were fully understood, scientists referred to riboflavin as vitamin G.
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Early studies showed that vitamin G deficiency in animals resulted in skin problems.
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The food label still mentioned vitamin G, though it now lists riboflavin in parentheses.
Synonyms
4
5.3
A vitamin the body uses to make energy and keep skin healthy
A substance the body needs to turn food into energy and keep skin and eyes healthy
A vitamin that helps the body grow, makes red blood cells, and keeps skin healthy
A B vitamin that helps the body grow and stops skin problems and weight loss
A B vitamin that helps keep skin healthy and prevent weight loss
Surface Forms
Morphology
vitamin + G
The compound 'vitamin G' transparently signals a type/name of vitamin because 'vitamin' + a letter follows familiar naming patterns (e.g., vitamin C), so a learner will understand it refers to some vitamin. However, the specific sense — that it is an older name for riboflavin (vitamin B2) and its particular effects — cannot be derived from the letter 'G' alone, so full meaning requires prior knowledge.
Etymology
Vitamin G comes from a time when scientists used letters to name new vitamins, so they simply called this one G until they studied it more. When they later found it to be riboflavin, people began calling it 'vitamin B2', so vitamin G is now an old name for that vitamin.