1. A bitter glycoside obtained from Linum catharticum (family Linaceae). 2. A protein in linseed. 3. Obsolete term for the threadlike, nonstaining (achromatic) substance of the cell nucleus, on which chromatin granules were thought to be suspended. [L. linum, fr. G. linon, flax]
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li·nin 'lī-nən n a bitter white crystallizable substance with purgative qualities obtained from the purging flax
linin n the feebly staining portion of the reticulum of the nucleus of a resting cell in which chromatin granules appear to be embedded
Medical dictionary. 2011.