Meanings
nounalkaloid (plural alkaloids)
plural alkaloids
- chemistryAny of many organic (often heterocyclic) bases that occur in nature and often have medicinal properties.
The Aspidosperma alkaloids are the largest group of indole alkaloids.
1990, Song Liu, Syntheses of Aspidosperma Alkaloids, page 21 more example
Xanthosine, the initial substrate of purine alkaloid synthesis, is supplied by at least four different pathways […]
2010, Bertil B. Fredholm, Methylxanthines
adjectivealkaloid (comparative more alkaloid, superlative most alkaloid)
comparative more alkaloid · superlative most alkaloid
- Relating to, resembling, or containing alkali.
Origin
- Arabicاَلْقِلْي (al-qily)
- Medieval Latinalcali
- Frenchalcali
- Englishalkali
- Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
- Proto-Hellenic*wéidos
- Ancient Greekεἶδος (eîdos)
- Englishalkaloid
From alkali + -oid. Compare French alcaloïde.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَلْوَانِيّ
- قَلْوَانِيّ (qalwāniyy)organic heterocyclic base
Catalan alcaloide
- alcaloideorganic heterocyclic base
Chinese Cantonese 生物鹼 /生物碱
- 生物鹼 /生物碱organic heterocyclic base
Chinese Mandarin 生物鹼 /生物碱
- 生物鹼 /生物碱 (shēngwùjiǎn)organic heterocyclic base
Czech alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Danish alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Esperanto alkaloido
- alkaloidoorganic heterocyclic base
Estonian alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Finnish alkaloidi
- alkaloidiorganic heterocyclic base
French alcaloïde
- alcaloïdeorganic heterocyclic base
German Alkaloid
- Alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Greek αλκαλοειδές
- αλκαλοειδές (alkaloeidés)organic heterocyclic base
Hungarian alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Icelandic beiskjuefni
- beiskjuefniorganic heterocyclic base
Indonesian alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Irish alcalóideach
- alcalóideachorganic heterocyclic base
Italian alcaloide
- alcaloideorganic heterocyclic base
Japanese アルカロイド
- アルカロイド (arukaroido)organic heterocyclic base
Korean 알칼로이드
- 알칼로이드 (alkalloideu)organic heterocyclic base
Norwegian Bokmål alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Polish alkaloid
- alkaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Portuguese alcaloide
- alcaloideorganic heterocyclic base
Romanian alcaloid
- alcaloidorganic heterocyclic base
Russian алкало́ид
- алкало́ид (alkalóid)organic heterocyclic base
Spanish alcaloide
- alcaloideorganic heterocyclic base
Turkish alkaloit
- alkaloitorganic heterocyclic base
Cite this entry
APA
alkaloid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alkaloid
MLA
“alkaloid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alkaloid. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alkaloid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alkaloid.
Source: alkaloid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.