Five-carbon sugar

• Sugar found in adenosine triphosphate
• Monosaccharide in guanosine
• Nucleic acid sugar
• RNA component
• A pentose sugar important as a component of ribonucleic acid

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1892, from German Ribose (1891), from Ribonsäure , a tetrahydroxy acid, with first element shortened and arbitrarily rearranged from English arabinose (c.1880), a sugar which is so called because it is formed from gum arabic .

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pentose \Pen"tose\, n. [Penta- + -ose.] (Chem.) Any of a group of sugars of the formula C5H10O5 , such as as arabinose or ribose ; -- so called from the five carbon atoms in the molecule. They are not fermented by yeast.

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. (context carbohydrate English) A naturally occurring pentose sugar, which is a component of the nucleosides and nucleotides that comprise the nucleic acid biopolymer, RNA. It is also found in riboflavin.

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. a pentose sugar important as a component of ribonucleic acid