gluten

noun

1. the tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch.
2. Archaic. glue or a gluey substance.

noun

1. a protein consisting of a mixture of glutelin and gliadin, present in cereal grains, esp wheat. A gluten-free diet is necessary in cases of coeliac disease

n.

1630s, “any sticky substance,” from Middle French gluten (16c.) or directly from Latin gluten “glue” (see glue (n.)). Used 16c.-19c. for the part of animal tissue now called fibrin; used since 1803 of the nitrogenous part of the flour of wheat or other grain; hence glutamic acid (1871), a common amino acid, and its salt, glutamate.

n.

1. A mixture of insoluble plant proteins occurring in cereal grains, chiefly corn and wheat, used as an adhesive and as a flour substitute.

1. The mixture of proteins, including gliadins and glutelins, found in wheat grains, which are not soluble in water and which give wheat dough its elastic texture.
2. Any of the prolamins found in cereal grains, especially the prolamins in wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats, that cause digestive disorders such as celiac disease.