pectin

P3E1C3T1I1N1
/ˈpɛktɪn/

noun

A plant-derived polysaccharide found in cell walls (especially in fruits) that forms a gel under acidic conditions and is commonly used to thicken foods like jam and jellies.

“Apple is rich in pectin and so is often added to other fruits when making jam so it will set.”

Similar
E440vegetable jelly
OriginFrench pectine ← Ancient Greek πηκτικός (pēktikós) ← Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounpectin (countable and uncountable, plural pectins)

plural pectins · alternative archaic pectine

  1. countableuncountablebiochemistryA plant-derived polysaccharide found in cell walls (especially in fruits) that forms a gel under acidic conditions and is commonly used to thicken foods like jam and jellies.

    Apple is rich in pectin and so is often added to other fruits when making jam so it will set.

    Synonyms: E440, vegetable jelly

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA plant-derived polysaccharide found in cell walls (especially in fruits) that forms a gel under acidic conditions and is commonly used to thicken foods like jam and jellies.

Similar
E440vegetable jelly
Also see
vegetable jelly

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ǵ-
  2. Ancient Greekπήγνῡμι (pḗgnūmi)
  3. Ancient Greekπηκτός (pēktós)
  4. Ancient Greekπηκτικός (pēktikós)
  5. Frenchacide pectique
  6. Frenchpectine
  7. Englishpectin

From French pectine, coined in the 1830s by Henri Braconnot, from acide pectique "pectic acid", from Ancient Greek πηκτικός (pēktikós, “curdling”), from πηκτός (pēktós, “curdled”), from πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “stiffen”).

More words from French, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan pectina
  • pectinasubstance
Chinese Mandarin 果膠 /果胶
  • 果膠 /果胶 (guǒjiāo)substance
Czech pektin
  • pektinsubstance
Danish pektin
  • pektinsubstance
Esperanto pektino
  • pektinosubstance
Estonian pektiin
  • pektiinsubstance
Finnish pektiini
  • pektiinisubstance
French pectine
  • pectinesubstance
German Pektin
  • Pektinsubstance
Greek πηκτίνη
  • πηκτίνη (piktíni)substance
Hungarian pektin
  • pektinsubstance
Icelandic ávaxtahlaup
  • ávaxtahlaupsubstance
Italian pectina
  • pectinasubstance
Japanese ペクチン
  • ペクチン (pekuchin)substance
Norwegian pektin
  • pektinsubstance
Polish pektyna
  • pektynasubstance
Portuguese pectina
  • pectinasubstance
Romanian pectină
  • pectinăsubstance
Russian пекти́н
  • пекти́н (pektín)substance
Spanish pectina
  • pectinasubstance
Swedish pektin
  • pektinsubstance
Turkish pektin
  • pektinsubstance

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

nepticinceptpentic
Cite this entry
APA

pectin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pectin

MLA

“pectin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pectin. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pectin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pectin.

Source: pectin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.