n.
Pronunciation: ' sfi ŋ -g ə - ˌ s ē n
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek sphingos (gen. of sphinx ) + English 2 -ine; from riddles it posed to its first investigators
Date: 1881
: a long-chain unsaturated amino alcohol C 18 H 37 O 2 N found especially in nervous tissue and cell membranes