Meanings
nounsebum (countable and uncountable, plural sebums or seba)
- countableuncountablemedicineA thick oily substance, secreted by the sebaceous glands of the skin, that consists of fat, keratin and cellular debris.
‘I mean, it is not simply adolescent acne caused by the over-excretion of sebum.’
2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, London: Hamish Hamilton, →ISBN, page 387
Origin
- Latinsēbum
- Latinsēbum
- Englishsebum
Learned borrowing from Latin sēbum (“tallow, grease; suet”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan sèu
- sèuthick oily substance
Chinese Cantonese 皮脂
- 皮脂 (pei⁴ zi¹)thick oily substance
Chinese Mandarin 皮脂
- 皮脂 (pízhī)thick oily substance
Czech lůj
- lůjthick oily substance
Dutch talg
- talgthick oily substance
Finnish tali
- talithick oily substance
French sébum
- sébumthick oily substance
German Talg
- Talgthick oily substance
Hindi त्वग्वसा
- त्वग्वसा (tvagvasā)thick oily substance
Icelandic húðfeiti
- húðfeitithick oily substance
Italian sebo
- sebothick oily substance
Japanese 皮脂
- 皮脂 (hishi)thick oily substance
Korean 피지, 개기름
- 피지 (piji)thick oily substance
- 개기름 (gaegireum)thick oily substance
Latin sebum
- sebumthick oily substance
Polish łój
- łójthick oily substance
Portuguese sebo
- sebothick oily substance
Russian ко́жное са́ло
- ко́жное са́ло (kóžnoje sálo)thick oily substance
Slovak maz
- mazthick oily substance
Spanish sebo
- sebothick oily substance
Swedish talg
- talgthick oily substance
Vietnamese bã nhờn
- bã nhờnthick oily substance
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
sebum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sebum
MLA
“sebum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sebum. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sebum,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sebum.
Source: sebum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.