Meanings
nounmolecule (plural molecules or moleculae or moleculæ)
plural molecules · plural moleculae · plural moleculæ
- chemistryThe smallest particle of a specific element or compound that retains the chemical properties of that element or compound; two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds.
Hydrogen chloride is a diatomic molecule, consisting of a hydrogen atom and a chlorine atom.
2 more examples
The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom. This system splits water molecules and delivers some of their electrons to other molecules that help build up carbohydrates.
2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, Sigma Xi, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Sep 2013Clinical trials testing the molecule in humans have been underway for three years, Sinclair said.
2022 June 2, Sandee LaMotte, “The ‘Benjamin Button’ effect: Scientists can reverse aging in mice. The goal is to do the same for humans”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tiny amount.
Broader
Narrower
More synonyms by meaning
noun(nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Afrikaans molekuul
- molekuulgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Arabic جُزَيْء
- جُزَيْء (juzayʔ)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Basque molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Bengali অণু
- অণু (onu)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Bulgarian моле́кула
- моле́кула (molékula)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Catalan molècula
- molèculagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Chinese Cantonese 分子
- 分子 (fan⁶ zi²)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Chinese Mandarin 分子
- 分子 (fēnzǐ)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Czech molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Danish molekyle
- molekylegroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Dutch molecuul
- molecuulgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Esperanto molekulo
- molekulogroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Estonian molekul
- molekulgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Finnish molekyyli
- molekyyligroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
French molécule
- moléculegroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
German Molekül
- Molekülgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Greek μόριο
- μόριο (mório)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Hebrew מוֹלֵקוּלָה
- מוֹלֵקוּלָה (molékula)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Hindi अणु, व्यूहाणु
- अणु (aṇu)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
- व्यूहाणु (vyūhāṇu)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Hungarian molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Icelandic sameind, mólekúl
- sameindgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
- mólekúlgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Indonesian molekul
- molekulgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Irish móilín
- móilíngroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Italian molecola
- molecolagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Japanese 分子
- 分子 (bunshi)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Korean 분자
- 분자 (bunja)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Latin molecula
- moleculagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Latvian molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Lithuanian molekulė
- molekulėgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Malay molekul
- molekulgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Norwegian molekyl
- molekylgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Polish cząsteczka, molekuła
- cząsteczkagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
- molekułagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Portuguese molécula
- moléculagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Punjabi ਅਣੂ
- ਅਣੂ (aṇū)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Romanian moleculă
- moleculăgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Russian моле́кула
- моле́кула (molékula)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Slovak molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Spanish molécula
- moléculagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Swahili molekuli
- molekuligroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Swedish molekyl
- molekylgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Tagalog molekula
- molekulagroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Tamil மூலக்கூறு
- மூலக்கூறு (mūlakkūṟu)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Thai โมเลกุล, อณู
- โมเลกุล (moo-lee-gun)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
- อณู (à-nuu)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Turkish molekül
- molekülgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Ukrainian моле́кула
- моле́кула (molékula)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Urdu اَنُو, سالْمَہ
- اَنُو (anū)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
- سالْمَہ (sālma)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Vietnamese phân tử
- phân tửgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Welsh moleciwl
- moleciwlgroup of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Yiddish מאָלעקול
- מאָלעקול (molekul)group of atoms held together by chemical bonds
Cite this entry
APA
molecule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molecule
MLA
“molecule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molecule. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “molecule,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/molecule.
Source: molecule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.