Meanings
plural lipids
- chemistryAny of a group of organic compounds including the fats, oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides. Lipids are characterized by being insoluble in water.
Without lipids your body eats your fat and then your muscles, and the brain is pure fat and the heart is a muscle. You become a feedback loop, and then you fall over.
2009, Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood, Virago Press (2020), page 384
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan oily organic compound insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents; essential structural component of living cells (along with proteins and carbohydrates)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*leyp-
- Proto-Hellenic*lípos
- Ancient Greekλῐ́πος (lĭ́pos)
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
- Frenchlipide
- Englishlipid
Borrowed from French lipide, coined in 1923 by Gabriel Bertrand from Ancient Greek λῐ́πος (lĭ́pos, “animal fat”) + French -ide.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لِيبِيد, لِيبِيد
- لِيبِيد (lībīd)organic compound
- لِيبِيد (libid)organic compound
- دُهْنِيَّة (duhniyya)organic compound
Catalan lípid
- lípidorganic compound
Chinese Cantonese 脂類 /脂类, 脂質 /脂质
- 脂類 /脂类 (zi¹ leoi⁶)organic compound
- 脂質 /脂质 (zi¹ zat¹)organic compound
Chinese Mandarin 脂類 /脂类, 脂質 /脂质
- 脂類 /脂类 (zhīlèi)organic compound
- 脂質 /脂质 (zhīzhì, zhīzhí)organic compound
Czech lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Danish lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Dutch lipide
- lipideorganic compound
Esperanto lipido
- lipidoorganic compound
Estonian lipiid, rasv
- lipiidorganic compound
- rasvorganic compound
Finnish lipidi
- lipidiorganic compound
French lipide
- lipideorganic compound
German Lipid
- Lipidorganic compound
Hindi वसा
- वसा (vasā)organic compound
Hungarian lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Icelandic lípíð
- lípíðorganic compound
Indonesian lipida
- lipidaorganic compound
Irish lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Italian lipide
- lipideorganic compound
Japanese 脂質, リピド
- 脂質 (shishitsu)organic compound
- リピド (ripido)organic compound
Korean 지질
- 지질 (jijil)organic compound
Malay lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Māori ngako
- ngakoorganic compound
Polish lipid, lipoid
- lipidorganic compound
- lipoidorganic compound
Portuguese lípido, lipídio
- lípidoorganic compound
- lipídioorganic compound
Romanian lipidă
- lipidăorganic compound
Russian липи́д
- липи́д (lipíd)organic compound
Spanish lípido
- lípidoorganic compound
Swedish lipid
- lipidorganic compound
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with lipid
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
lipid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lipid
“lipid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lipid. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lipid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lipid.
Source: lipid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.