Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Saccharin

Saccharin (sak"kȧ*rin) , noun

[French, from Latin saccharon sugar.]

(Chemistry) A bitter white crystalline substance obtained from the saccharinates and regarded as the lactone of saccharinic acid; -- so called because formerly supposed to be isomeric with cane sugar (saccharose).