Vitamin basics

The term "vitamin" comes from "vita" (meaning life) and "amine" (an organic, nitrogen-containing compound related to ammonia). Initially called "accessory factors," they are essential for life in trace amounts. All vitamins were originally thought to be amines, as was the case with thiamine, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and several others that were among the first to be discovered. By the time it was clear that not all of these compounds were amines, the name "vitamin" had caught on.