Zool. and Chem. Also -ine. [a. F. chitine, f. Gr. χιτών frock, tunic: see -IN. (The etymological formation would be chitonin.)] The organic substance that forms the elytra and integuments of insects and the carapaces of crustacea.
1836–9. Todd, Cycl. Anat., II. 881/2. The … substance that constitutes the hard portion of the dermo-skeleton is called chitine by Odier.
1874. Schorlemmer, Man. Chem. Carbon Compounds, 467. Chitin C9H15NO6 is the principal constituent of the horny cover of beetles and crustaceans.
1877. Huxley, Anat. Inv. Anim., 53. The existence of cellulose as a constituent of chitin.
fig. 1883. H. Drummond, Nat. Law in Spir. W., 331. Words are mere chitine.
attrib. 1876. trans. Wagner’s Gen. Pathol., 113. A superficial homogeneous chitin layer.
1877. W. Thomson, Voy. Challenger, II. i. 7. Empty … chitine sacs.
Hence Chitinize v. trans., to convert into chitin; Chitinization, conversion into chitin; Chitino-calcareous a., containing chitin and lime.
1877. Huxley, Anat. Inv. Anim., vi. 254. Chitinised tendons.
1878. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 22. Chitinised cuticles.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, Introd. p. cxxxiii. [They] attain considerable rigidity by chitinization.
1874. Lankester, in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci., XIV. 373. The enclosing folds of the mantle remain as a sac and perform their part, producing the chitino-calcareous pen of the living Dibranch.
1880. Huxley, Crayfish. Its [the crayfish’s] chitino-calcareous body-walls.
