Meanings
plural alanines
- uncountablebiochemistryA nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins
Potatoes can be a good source of alanine.
1 more example
Furthermore, wedelolactone also increased the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decreased the level of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, therefore decreasing the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT).
2015 July 14, “Wedelolactone Regulates Lipid Metabolism and Improves Hepatic Steatosis Partly by AMPK Activation and Up-Regulation of Expression of PPARα/LPL and LDLR”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrochloric acid.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian аланин
- аланин (alanin)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Catalan alanina
- alaninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Chinese Mandarin 丙氨酸
- 丙氨酸 (bǐng'ānsuān)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Czech alanin
- alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Danish alanin
- alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Esperanto alanino
- alaninononessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Finnish alaniini
- alaniininonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
French alanine
- alaninenonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
German Alanin
- Alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Greek αλανίνη
- αλανίνη (alaníni)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Hungarian alanin
- alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Irish alainín
- alainínnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Italian alanina
- alaninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Japanese アラニン
- アラニン (aranin)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Korean 알라닌
- 알라닌 (allanin)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Māori aranina
- araninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Persian آلانین
- آلانین (âlânin)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Polish alanina
- alaninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Portuguese alanina
- alaninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Romanian alanină
- alaninănonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Russian алани́н
- алани́н (alanín)nonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Slovak alanín
- alanínnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Spanish alanina
- alaninanonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Swedish alanin
- alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Vietnamese alanin
- alaninnonessential amino acid; C3H7NO2
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
alanine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alanine
“alanine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alanine. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alanine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alanine.
Source: alanine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.