-_tik- noun
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary aspar- (from Latin asparagus ) + connective -t- + -ic
: a crystalline amino dicarboxylic acid HOOCCH 2 CH(NH 2 )COOH that is found especially in many plants (as young sugar cane) and is obtained by hydrolysis of asparagine and proteins, that takes part in transamination reactions in the living organism, and that is used in bacteriological culture media; amino-succinic acid