ˈbīətə̇n noun
( -s )
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary biot- (from Greek biotos life, sustenance, from bios life, way of life) + -in; originally formed in German
: a colorless crystalline growth vitamin C 10 H 16 N 2 O 3 S of the vitamin B complex that occurs widely (as in yeast, liver, and egg yolk) usually in combined form, that is inactivated by combination with avidin in the case of egg-white injury, and that is involved in the fixation of carbon dioxide (as by pyruvate to form oxalacetate) in mammals and bacteria