Colloquial Variant guide

bicarbonate

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /baɪˈkɑɹ.bə.neɪt/
  • General-American: /baɪˈkɑɹ.bə.nət/
  • Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: /baɪˈkɑː.bə.nət/
  • CMU ARPABET: B AY0 K AA1 R B AH0 N AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

the univalent anion HCO3−; any salt of carbonic acid in which only one of the hydrogen atoms has been replaced.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bicarb

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Clipping of sodium bicarbonate, especially that used as a mild antacid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bicarb

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a salt of carbonic acid (containing the anion HCO3) in which one hydrogen atom has been replaced; an acid carbonate

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hydrogen carbonate

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: carbonate

Narrower terms: bicarbonate of soda, sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, baking soda, saleratus, potassium bicarbonate, potassium acid carbonate, potassium hydrogen carbonate, calcium bicarbonate, magnesium bicarbonate

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Italic *dwi- Latin bi-bor. English bi- Proto-Indo-European *kerh3-der.? Latin carbōnemlbor. French carbonebor. English carbon Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English carbonate English bicarbonate From bi- + carbonate.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: bikarbonato — chemistry
  • Catalan: bicarbonat — chemistry
  • Chinese Mandarin: 碳酸氢根 (tàn suān qīng gēn) — chemistry
  • Chinese Mandarin: 碳酸氢盐 (tàn suān qīng yán) — chemistry
  • Dutch: bicarbonaat — chemistry
  • Finnish: vetykarbonaatti — chemistry
  • Finnish: bikarbonaatti — chemistry
  • French: bicarbonate — chemistry
  • Georgian: ბიკარბონატი (biḳarbonaṭi) — chemistry
  • German: Bicarbonat — chemistry
  • Hungarian: bikarbonát — chemistry
  • Irish: décharbónáit — chemistry
  • Italian: bicarbonato — chemistry
  • Malagasy: karibonetra — chemistry
  • Malay: bikarbonat — chemistry
  • Māori: pākawa warorua — chemistry
  • Norman: bicarbonate — chemistry
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hydrogenkarbonat — chemistry
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bikarbonat — chemistry
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hydrogenkarbonat — chemistry
  • Persian: بیکربنات (bi-karbonât) — chemistry
  • Polish: wodorowęglan — chemistry
  • Portuguese: bicarbonato — chemistry
  • Spanish: bicarbonato — chemistry
  • Telugu: బైకార్బొనేటు (baikārbonēṭu) — chemistry
  • Telugu: ద్వికర్బనితము (dvikarbanitamu) — chemistry
  • Finnish: ruokasooda — of soda
  • French: bicarbonate — of soda
  • Hungarian: szódabikarbóna — of soda
  • Italian: bicarbonato di sodio — of soda
  • Italian: bicarbonato — of soda
  • Malay: bikarbonat — of soda
  • Norman: bicarbonate — of soda
  • Norwegian: natron — of soda
  • Polish: soda — of soda
  • Polish: soda oczyszczona — of soda
  • Portuguese: bicarbonato — of soda
  • Spanish: bicarbonato — of soda