Meanings
nounmethionine (countable and uncountable, plural methionines)
plural methionines
- countableuncountablebiochemistryA sulphur-containing amino acid, C₅H₁₁NO₂S, in L- and D-forms.
- countableuncountablebiochemistryThe L-form thereof, a lipotropic molecule widely occurring in living organisms and found in most protein; in humans it is an essential amino acid.
The purpose was to make soya beans more healthy for those for whom they are a staple food by correcting soya beans' natural deficiency in a chemical called methionine.
1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 253
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
- Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
- Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
- Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
- Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
- GermanMethy
- Englishmethyl
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰewh₂-der.?
- Ancient Greekθέειον (théeion)
- Ancient Greekθεῖον (theîon)
- Englishthio-
- Englishmethionine
From methyl + thio- + -n- + -ine.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مِيثِيُونِين
- مِيثِيُونِين (miṯiyunīn)amino acid
Bulgarian метионин
- метионин (metionin)amino acid
Catalan metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Chinese Mandarin 蛋氨酸, 甲硫氨酸
- 蛋氨酸 (dàn'ānsuān)amino acid
- 甲硫氨酸 (jiǎliú'ānsuān)amino acid
Czech methionin
- methioninamino acid
Dutch methionine
- methionineamino acid
Esperanto metionino
- metioninoamino acid
Finnish metioniini
- metioniiniamino acid
French méthionine
- méthionineamino acid
German Methionin
- Methioninamino acid
Greek μεθιονίνη
- μεθιονίνη (methioníni)amino acid
Hebrew מתיונין
- מתיוניןamino acid
Hungarian metionin
- metioninamino acid
Indonesian metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Italian metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Japanese メチオニン
- メチオニン (mechionin)amino acid
Korean 메티오닌
- 메티오닌 (metionin)amino acid
Latvian metionīns
- metionīnsamino acid
Lithuanian metioninas
- metioninasamino acid
Norwegian metionin
- metioninamino acid
Persian متیونین
- متیونین (metiyonin)amino acid
Polish metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Portuguese metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Romanian metionină
- metioninăamino acid
Russian метиони́н
- метиони́н (metionín)amino acid
Slovak metionín
- metionínamino acid
Spanish metionina
- metioninaamino acid
Swedish metionin
- metioninamino acid
Turkish metiyonin
- metiyoninamino acid
Ukrainian метіонін
- метіонін (metionin)amino acid
Cite this entry
APA
methionine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/methionine
MLA
“methionine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/methionine. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “methionine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/methionine.
Source: methionine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.