Meanings
plural ureas
- uncountablebiochemistryA water-soluble organic compound, CO(NH₂)₂, formed by the metabolism of proteins and excreted in the urine.
1 more example
Five of them — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — supply more than a third of the world’s urea, an important nitrogen fertilizer, and nearly a quarter of another one, ammonia. […] Over the past week, the price of urea sold in Egypt, a market that economists track closely, climbed more than 35 percent.
2026 March 9, Sam Sifton, “The War’s Effect on the Supermarket”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2026 - countablechemistryAny N-substituted derivative of urea, with the general formula (R₁R₂N)CO(NR₃R₄).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe chief solid component of mammalian urine; synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide and used as fertilizer and in animal feed and in plastics
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁wers-
- Ancient Greekοὐρέω (ouréō)
- Ancient Greekοὖρον (oûron)
- Frenchurée
- Englishurea
From New Latin, from French urée, from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”).
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian карбамид
- карбамид (karbamid)organic compound
Catalan urea
- ureaorganic compound
Chinese Cantonese 尿素, 脲
- 尿素 (niu⁶ sou³)organic compound
- 脲 (niu⁶)derivative
Chinese Mandarin 尿素, 脲
- 尿素 (niàosù)organic compound
- 脲 (niào)derivative
Czech urea, močovina
- ureaorganic compound
- močovinaorganic compound
- karbamidorganic compound
Danish urea, urinstof
- ureaorganic compound
- urinstoforganic compound
Dutch ureum
- ureumorganic compound
Esperanto ureo
- ureoorganic compound
Finnish virtsa-aine, urea
- virtsa-aineorganic compound
- ureaorganic compound
French urée
- uréeorganic compound
German Harnstoff
- Harnstofforganic compound
Greek ουρία
- ουρία (ouría)organic compound
Hebrew שתנן
- שתנן (shitnán)organic compound
Hungarian karbamid
- karbamidderivative
Irish úiré
- úiréorganic compound
Italian urea
- ureaorganic compound
Japanese 尿素
- 尿素 (nyōso)organic compound
Korean 요소
- 요소 (yoso)organic compound
Māori matū mimi
- matū mimiorganic compound
Norwegian Bokmål urea, urinstoff
- ureaorganic compound
- urinstofforganic compound
Persian اوره
- اوره (ure)organic compound
Polish mocznik
- mocznikorganic compound
Portuguese ureia
- ureiaorganic compound
Russian мочеви́на
- мочеви́на (močevína)organic compound
Spanish urea
- ureaorganic compound
Swedish urinämne, urea
- urinämneorganic compound
- ureaorganic compound
- karbamidorganic compound
Turkish üre
- üreorganic compound
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with urea
Anagrams
Cite this entry
urea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/urea
“urea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/urea. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “urea,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/urea.
Source: urea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.