Meanings
nounmelanin (countable and uncountable, plural melanins)
plural melanins
- countableuncountablebiochemistryAny of a group of naturally occurring dark pigments, especially the pigment found in skin, hair, fur, and feathers.
Generally, cephalopod ink includes melanin, enzymes related to melanin production, catecholamines, peptidoglycans, free amino acids and metals (Derby 2014) .
2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian
Origin
From New Latin, from Ancient Greek stem of μέλας (mélas, “black”) + -in; by surface analysis, melan- + -in.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan melanina
- melaninadark pigment
Chinese Mandarin 黑色素, 黑素
- 黑色素 (hēisèsù)dark pigment
- 黑素 (hēisù)dark pigment
Czech melanin
- melanindark pigment
Dutch melanine
- melaninedark pigment
Esperanto melanino
- melaninodark pigment
Finnish melaniini
- melaniinidark pigment
French mélanine
- mélaninedark pigment
German Melanin
- Melanindark pigment
Greek μελανίνη
- μελανίνη (melaníni)dark pigment
Hungarian melanin
- melanindark pigment
Irish meilinin
- meilinindark pigment
Italian melanina
- melaninadark pigment
Japanese メラニン
- メラニン (meranin)dark pigment
Korean 멜라닌
- 멜라닌 (mellanin)dark pigment
Malay melanin
- melanindark pigment
Māori manauri
- manauridark pigment
Polish melanina
- melaninadark pigment
Portuguese melanina
- melaninadark pigment
Romanian melanină
- melaninădark pigment
Russian мелани́н
- мелани́н (melanín)dark pigment
Spanish melanina
- melaninadark pigment
Swedish melanin
- melanindark pigment
Vietnamese sắc tố đen
- sắc tố đendark pigment
Welsh melanin
- melanindark pigment
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
melanin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melanin
MLA
“melanin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melanin. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “melanin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melanin.
Source: melanin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.