Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary pyr- + catechol
: a crystalline phenol C6H4(OH)2 obtained by pyrolysis of catechin, resins, lignins, and other natural substances but usually made synthetically (as by alkaline fusion of ortho-chlorophenol or ortho-phenolsulfonic acid) and used chiefly as a photographic developer, as a developer in fur dyeing, as an intermediate in organic synthesis, and as an analytical reagent; ortho-dihydroxy-benzene — called also catechol
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/puy'reuh kat"i chawl', -chol', -kawl', -kol'/, n. Chem.
catechol.
Also, pyrocatechin /puy'reuh kat"euh chin, -kin/.
[1885-90; PYRO- + CATECHOL]
Useful english dictionary. 2012.