noun · 2 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.
/ˈkæfiːn/
/kæˈfiːn/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æfiːn
rhymes with -iːn
CMU ARPABET:K AE0 F IY1 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An alkaloid, C8H10N4O2, found naturally in tea and coffee plants, which acts as a mild stimulant on the central nervous system.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a bitter alkaloid found in coffee and tea that is responsible for their stimulating effects
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: caffein
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: alkaloid
History
Etymology
Borrowed from French caféine, from café (“coffee”), or German Caffein, Kaffein (cp. Coffein, Koffein), from Kaffee (“coffee”) (cp. Kaffe, Koffee, Koffe), or Italian caffè (“coffee”) + -ine.
Across languages
Translations
88 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kafeinë
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Arabic:
كَافِيِين
(kāfiyīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Armenian:
կոֆեին
(kofein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Asturian:
cafeína
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Azerbaijani:
kofein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Belarusian:
кафеі́н
(kafjeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Belarusian:
кафэі́н
(kafeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Bengali:
ক্যাফিন
(kêphin)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Bulgarian:
кофеи́н
(kofeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Burmese:
ကေဖိန်း
(kehpin:)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Catalan:
cafeïna
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Chinese Cantonese:
咖啡因
(gaa3 fe1 jan1)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Hakka Chinese:
咖啡因
(kha-fei-yin, kà-pì-yîn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Chinese:
咖啡因
(ka-pi-in)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Chinese Mandarin:
咖啡因
(kāfēiyīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Chinese Mandarin:
咖啡鹼 /咖啡碱
(kāfēijiǎn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Czech:
kofein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Danish:
koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Dutch:
cafeïne
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Esperanto:
kafeino
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Estonian:
kofeiin
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Finnish:
kofeiini
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
French:
caféine
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Galician:
cafeína
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Georgian:
კოფეინი
(ḳopeini)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
German:
Koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
German:
Coffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Greek:
καφεΐνη
(kafeḯni)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Hebrew:
קָפֶאִין
(kafeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Hindi:
कैफ़ीन
(kaifīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Hindi:
कैफीन
(kaiphīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Hungarian:
koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Icelandic:
koffín
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Icelandic:
kaffín
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Ido:
kafeino
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Indonesian:
kafein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Irish:
caiféin
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Italian:
caffeina
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Japanese:
カフェイン
(kafein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Kazakh:
кофеин
(kofein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Khmer:
កាហ្វេអ៊ីន
(kaafeeʼiin)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Korean:
카페인
(kapein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Kyrgyz:
кофеин
(kofein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Lao:
ກາເຟອີນ
(kā fē ʼīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Lao:
ຄາເຟອີນ
(khā fē ʼīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Latin:
coffēinum
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Latvian:
kofeīns
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Lithuanian:
kofeinas
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Macedonian:
кофеи́н
(kofeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Malagasy:
kafeinina
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Malagasy:
kafeina
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Malay:
kafein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Manx:
caffeen
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Mongolian:
кофеин
(kofein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Norwegian Bokmål:
koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Norwegian Nynorsk:
koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Iranian Persian:
کافِئین
(kâfe'in)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Polish:
kofeina
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Portuguese:
cafeína
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Romanian:
cafeină
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Romanian:
cofeină
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Russian:
кофеи́н
(kofeín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Scottish Gaelic:
caifein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Serbo-Croatian:
кофѐӣн
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Serbo-Croatian:
kofèīn
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Sicilian:
caffiina
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Slovak:
kofeín
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Slovene:
kofein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Spanish:
cafeína
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Swahili:
kafeini
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Swedish:
koffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Tajik:
кофеин
(kofeyin)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Thai:
กาเฟอีน
(gaa-fee-iin)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Thai:
คาเฟอีน
(kaa-fee-iin)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Turkish:
kafein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Turkmen:
kafein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Turkmen:
kafeyin
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Ukrainian:
кофеї́н
(kofejín)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Urdu:
کَیفِین
(kaifīn)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Uyghur:
كوففېئىن
(koffë'in)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Uzbek:
kofein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Vietnamese:
cafêin
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Vietnamese:
cà phê tinh
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Vietnamese:
caffein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Volapük:
kafein
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Welsh:
caffîn
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Yiddish:
קאַפֿעיִן
(kafein)
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
Yoruba:
kaféènì
— alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants
