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Definition 2024


蛋白

蛋白

Chinese

egg; oval shaped
 
white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous
simp. and trad.
(蛋白)

Noun

蛋白

  1. egg white; albumen
  2. Short for 蛋白質蛋白质 (dànbáizhì, “protein”).

Derived terms


Japanese

Kanji in this term
たん
Hyōgaiji
はく > ぱく
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 蛋白 (tan? bæk, literally egg + white). The kanʻon reading, so likely a later borrowing.

The protein sense is more recent, and developed out of the egg white sense.

Pronunciation

Noun

蛋白 (hiragana たんぱく, katakana タンパク, romaji tanpaku)

  1. egg white, albumen
  2. Abbreviation of 蛋白質 (tanpakushitsu): protein (more common sense in modern Japanese)

Usage notes

Due to the rarity of the first character , often spelled in katakana, as タンパク.

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9