Meanings
- uncountablebiochemistryA water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.
Mixing the alkali into the recipe in the right way chemically releases the otherwise unavailable niacin in the corn, which stops pellagra in its tracks, and allowed corn-based agricultural populations to grow and spread.
2016, Joseph Henrich, chapter 7, in The Secret of Our Success […] , Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBNSynonyms: E375 when used as a colour retention agent, nicotinic acid, vitamin B3, vitamin P-P, PP-factor, pellagra-preventive factor, vitamin PP
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna B vitamin essential for the normal function of the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
in 1942 derived from nicotinic + acid + vitamin, chosen to dissociate it from nicotine, to avoid the perception that vitamins or niacin-rich food contains nicotine, or that cigarettes contain vitamins.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 煙酸 /烟酸
- 煙酸 /烟酸 (yānsuān)water-soluble vitamin
Finnish niasiini
- niasiiniwater-soluble vitamin
French niacine
- niacinewater-soluble vitamin
German Niacin
- Niacinwater-soluble vitamin
Italian niacina
- niacinawater-soluble vitamin
Japanese ナイアシン
- ナイアシン (naiashin)water-soluble vitamin
Korean 니코틴산
- 니코틴산 (nikotinsan)water-soluble vitamin
Portuguese niacina
- niacinawater-soluble vitamin
Swahili niasini
- niasiniwater-soluble vitamin
Turkish niyasin
- niyasinwater-soluble vitamin
Cite this entry
niacin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/niacin
“niacin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/niacin. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “niacin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/niacin.
Source: niacin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.