Meanings
nouncholine (usually uncountable, plural cholines)
plural cholines · alternative obsolete cholin
- uncountableusuallychemistryA hydroxy quaternary ammonium compound with formula (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂CH₂OHX⁻. It is an essential nutrient for cardiovascular and brain health and for cell membrane formation.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
- Proto-Hellenic*kʰolā́
- Ancient Greekχολή (kholḗ)
- Englishcholine
Coined from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). The chemical compound was first isolated by Adolph Strecker from pig and ox bile (hence the name) in 1862. It was also named neurine when chemically synthesized by Oscar Liebreich in 1865, until 1898 when shown to be identical to choline.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan colina
- colinaorganic chemistry: a compound
Chinese Cantonese 膽鹼 /胆碱
- 膽鹼 /胆碱 (daam² gaan²)organic chemistry: a compound
Chinese Mandarin 膽鹼 /胆碱
- 膽鹼 /胆碱 (dǎnjiǎn)organic chemistry: a compound
Czech cholin
- cholinorganic chemistry: a compound
Dutch choline
- cholineorganic chemistry: a compound
Finnish koliini
- koliiniorganic chemistry: a compound
French choline
- cholineorganic chemistry: a compound
German Cholin
- Cholinorganic chemistry: a compound
Greek χολίνη
- χολίνη (cholíni)organic chemistry: a compound
Hungarian kolin
- kolinorganic chemistry: a compound
Italian colina
- colinaorganic chemistry: a compound
Japanese コリン
- コリン (korin)organic chemistry: a compound
Korean 콜린
- 콜린 (kollin)organic chemistry: a compound
Polish cholina
- cholinaorganic chemistry: a compound
Portuguese colina
- colinaorganic chemistry: a compound
Romanian colină
- colinăorganic chemistry: a compound
Russian холи́н
- холи́н (xolín)organic chemistry: a compound
Spanish colina
- colinaorganic chemistry: a compound
Swedish kolin
- kolinorganic chemistry: a compound
Turkish kolin
- kolinorganic chemistry: a compound
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
choline. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/choline
MLA
“choline.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/choline. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “choline,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/choline.
Source: choline on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.