Meanings
plural gelatins · alternative Commonwealth UK gelatine
- USuncountableusuallyA thin, translucent membrane used as a filter for photography or for theatrical lighting effects.
For both images I placed a Kodak 4.0 neutral-density gelatin filter over the lens to reduce the Sun's brightness.
2010 April, Frank Zullo, “Imaging Prehistoric Sunrises”, in Astronomy, volume 38, number 4, page 50
present singular third person gelatins · participle present gelatining · participle past gelatined · past gelatined · alternative Commonwealth UK gelatine
- UStransitiveTo coat with gelatin.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna colorless water-soluble glutinous protein obtained from animal tissues such as bone and skin
nounan edible jelly (sweet or pungent) made with gelatin and used as a dessert or salad base or a coating for foods
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gel-
- Latingelū
- Latingelāre
- Italiangelare
- Italiangelatina
- Frenchgélatine
- Englishgelatin
Borrowed from French gélatine (“jelly, gel”), from Italian gelatina (“jelly, gel”), from gelare (“to freeze”), from Latin gelō (“to freeze”).
More words from French, Italian, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic جِيلَاتِين
- جِيلَاتِين (jīlātīn)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Bulgarian желатин, желе
- желатин (želatin)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- желе (žele)edible jelly
- пелте (pelte)edible jelly
Catalan gelatina, gelatina
- gelatinaprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatinaedible jelly
Chinese Cantonese 魚膠 /鱼胶
- 魚膠 /鱼胶 (jyu⁴ gaau¹)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Chinese Mandarin 明膠 /明胶, 吉利丁
- 明膠 /明胶 (míngjiāo)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- 吉利丁 (jílìdīng)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- 果凍 /果冻 (guǒdòng)edible jelly
- 啫喱 (zhělí)edible jelly
- 濾色片 /滤色片translucent membrane
- 色片translucent membrane
Czech želatina
- želatinaprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Dutch gelatine, gelatine
- gelatineprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatineedible jelly
Esperanto gelateno
- gelatenoedible jelly
Finnish liivate, gelatiini
- liivateprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatiiniprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- liivateedible jelly
- gelatiinitranslucent membrane
French gélatine
- gélatineprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
German Gelatine, Gelatine
- Gelatineprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- Gelatineedible jelly
Greek ζελατίνη, ζελατίνη
- ζελατίνη (zelatíni)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- ζελατίνη (zelatíni)edible jelly
Hawaiian ʻūnina
- ʻūninaedible jelly
Hungarian zselatin
- zselatinprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Indonesian agar
- agarprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Irish geilitín, geilitín
- geilitínprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- geilitínedible jelly
Japanese ゼラチン
- ゼラチン (zerachin)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Korean 젤라틴
- 젤라틴 (jellatin)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Māori tetepe, keretini
- tetepeprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- keretiniprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Persian ژلاتین
- ژلاتین (želâtin)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Polish żelatyna, żelatyna
- żelatynaprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- żelatynaedible jelly
Portuguese gelatina, gelatina
- gelatinaprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatinaedible jelly
- gelatinatranslucent membrane
Romanian gelatină, gelatină
- gelatinăprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatinăedible jelly
Russian желати́н, желати́н
- желати́н (želatín)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- желати́н (želatín)edible jelly
Spanish gelatina, gelatina
- gelatinaprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatinaedible jelly
- gelatinatranslucent membrane
Swedish gelatin, gelatin
- gelatinprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- gelatinedible jelly
Tagalog helatina
- helatinaedible jelly
Thai เจลาติน, เจลาติน
- เจลาติน (jee-laa-dtin)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- เจลาติน (jee-laa-dtin)edible jelly
- เยลลีedible jelly
- เจลลีedible jelly
Turkish jelatin, jöle
- jelatinprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- jöleedible jelly
- jelatintranslucent membrane
Ukrainian желати́н, желати́н
- желати́н (želatýn)protein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
- желати́н (želatýn)edible jelly
Vietnamese gelatin
- gelatinprotein derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gelatin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatin
“gelatin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatin. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gelatin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gelatin.
Source: gelatin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.