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Why was the word vitamine shortened to vitamin?
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vitamin
Vitamin E in gel-cap form.
The term "vitamine" was originally coined by Polish scientist Casimir Funk in 1912. Funk believed these essential nutrients were "vital amines" because he identified a nitrogen-containing component known as an amine in the substances he was studying, such as the factor that prevents beriberi.1
The final "e" was dropped from the word to create the modern spelling, "vitamin," after subsequent scientific research revealed that not all of these essential compounds contain nitrogen and, therefore, not all of them are amines.1