Meaning

noun a white crystalline amino acid occurring in proteins that is essential for nutrition; obtained by the hydrolysis of most dietary proteins

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewk- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *lewkós Proto-Hellenic *leukós Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós) Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ine English leucine Derived from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + -ine, equivalent to leuco- + -ine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0