Standard Lemma guide

fullerene

noun · 4 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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  • /ˈfʊləɹˌin/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules whose atoms lie at the vertices of a polyhedron having 12 pentagonal and 2 or more hexagonal faces.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any closed-cage compound having twenty or more carbon atoms consisting entirely of 3-coordinate carbon atoms.

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: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The class of carbon allotropes consisting of tubular carbon molecules (carbon nanotubes) and spheroidal carbon molecules (traditional fullerenes).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: carbon, C, atomic number 6

Narrower terms: buckminsterfullerene, buckyball, carbon nanotube, nanotube

History

Etymology

After Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, + -ene.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: fulleren — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Chinese Mandarin: 富勒烯 (fùlèxī) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Chinese Mandarin: 足球烯 (zúqiúxī) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巴克球 (bākèqiú) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巴基球 (bājīqiú) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Czech: fullereny — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Finnish: fullereeni — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • French: fullerène — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • German: Fullerene — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • German: Fulleren — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Greek: φουλερένιο (foulerénio) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Hungarian: fullerén — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Ido: fulereno — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Irish: fullairéin — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Japanese: フラーレン (furāren) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Lithuanian: fulerenas — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Persian: فولرن — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Portuguese: fulereno — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Punjabi: ਫੂਲੇਰੀਨਜ਼ (phūlerīnaz) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Turkish: fulleren — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Ukrainian: фулерени (fulereny) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules
  • Ukrainian: бакіболи (bakiboly) — any of a class of allotropes of carbon having hollow molecules