Meanings
- uncountableVitamin D₃ (C₂₇H₄₄O)
1 more example
Owing to the exceptional difficulty of purification in the sterol group, we cannot yet be certain that this substance is a single compound, but we think the provisional adoption of a new name is justified, for the sake of convenience, and suggest “Calciferol” in view of the high antirachitic activity of the substance.
1931 June 1, T. C. Angus, F. A. Askew, R. B. Bourdillon, Hilda M. Bruce, Robert Kenneth Callow, Catherine Fischmann, J. St L. Philpot, T. A. Webster, “A crystalline antirachitic substance”, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, volume 108, number 757, →DOI, page 340Synonyms: cholecalciferol
Synonyms & antonyms
nounVitamin D₃ (C₂₇H₄₄O)
More synonyms by meaning
nouna fat-soluble vitamin that prevents rickets
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Coined in 1931 as a blend of calciferous + sterol (see quote below).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
calciferol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calciferol
“calciferol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calciferol. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “calciferol,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calciferol.
Source: calciferol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.