Meanings
nounessential fatty acid (plural essential fatty acids)
plural essential fatty acids
- biochemistryany fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized by the body and must be present in the diet; originally designated as vitamin F
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 必需脂肪酸
- 必需脂肪酸 (bit¹ seoi¹ zi¹ fong¹ syun¹)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
Chinese Mandarin 必需脂肪酸
- 必需脂肪酸 (bìxū zhīfángsuān)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
French acide gras essentiel
- acide gras essentielany fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
Japanese 必須脂肪酸, 不可欠脂肪酸
- 必須脂肪酸 (hissu shibōsan)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
- 不可欠脂肪酸 (fukaketsu shibōsan)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
Korean 필수 지방산, 불가결 지방산
- 필수 지방산 (pilsu jibangsan)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
- 불가결 지방산 (bulgagyeol jibangsan)any fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
Slovak esenciálna mastná kyselina
- esenciálna mastná kyselinaany fatty acid required for human metabolism that cannot be synthesized
Cite this entry
APA
essential fatty acid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20fatty%20acid
MLA
“essential fatty acid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20fatty%20acid. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “essential fatty acid,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/essential%20fatty%20acid.
Source: essential fatty acid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.