n.
Variant: also ca · rot · in · oid
Pronunciation: k ə - ' rä-t ə - ˌ no ̇ id
Function: noun
Date: 1911
: any of various usually yellow to red pigments (as carotenes) found widely in plants and animals and characterized chemically by a long aliphatic polyene chain composed of eight isoprene units
– carotenoid adjective