Standard Lemma guide

dickkopf

noun · 1 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

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdɪkˌkɒpf/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈdɪkˌkɑ(p)f/
  • General-American: /-ˌkɔ(p)f/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a family of glycoproteins that are involved in the development of the embryo.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Dickkopf (“stubborn person”, literally “thick head”), from the fact that Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1), one of the dickkopf proteins, was found to be required for head formation in embryos. The word was coined by Andrei Glinka, Wei Wu, Hajo Delius, A. Paula Monaghan, Claudia Blumenstock, and Christof Niehrs in a 1998 article published in Nature: see the quotation.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: Dickkopf-proteiini — any of a family of glycoproteins that is involved in the development of the embryo
  • Finnish: DKK-proteiini — any of a family of glycoproteins that is involved in the development of the embryo
  • French: dickkopf — any of a family of glycoproteins that is involved in the development of the embryo