/bee"teuh een', -in; bi tay"een, -in/ , n. Chem., Pharm.
a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble, sweet-tasting alkaloid, C 5 H 11 NO 2 , usually obtained from sugar beets or synthesized from glycine, used chiefly in medicine.
Also, betain /bee"teuh in, bi tay"-/ . Also called lycine, oxyneurine, trimethylglycine .
[ 1875-80; beta BEET + -INE 2 ]