countertransport

noun

The transport of two chemical species across a membrane in opposite directions

OriginEnglish transport ← Middle English counter- ← Anglo-Norman countre- →
Scrabble 20
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Meanings

nouncountertransport (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiochemistryThe transport of two chemical species across a membrane in opposite directions

    Increased Na+/Li+ countertransport activity has been described in a study of parents of proteinuric type 1 diabetic patients, although not in another.

    2002, Max Ellenberg, Harold Rifkin, et al., Ellenberg and Rifkin's Diabetes Mellitus
verbcountertransport (third-person singular simple present countertransports, present participle countertransporting, simple past and past participle countertransported)

present singular third person countertransports · participle present countertransporting · participle past countertransported · past countertransported

  1. To transport two chemical species across a membrane in opposite directions

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Proto-Italic*komteros
  6. Proto-Italic*komterād
  7. Latincontrā
  8. Old Frenchcontre-
  9. Anglo-Normancountre-
  10. Middle Englishcounter-
  11. Englishcounter-
  12. Englishtransport
  13. Englishcountertransport

From counter- + transport.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

countertransport. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransport

MLA

“countertransport.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransport. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “countertransport,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countertransport.

Source: countertransport on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.