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.
/ˈɡlaɪ.kə.d͡ʒn̩/
/ˈɡlɪ.kə.d͡ʒn̩/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:G L AY1 K AH0 JH IH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals; converted to glucose as needed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
one form in which body fuel is stored; stored primarily in the liver and broken down into glucose when needed by the body
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: animal starch
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: polysaccharide, polyose
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Hellenic *dlukús Ancient Greek γλῠκῠ́ς (glŭkŭ́s)der. French glyco- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh1- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh1os Proto-Hellenic *génos Ancient Greek γένος (génos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -γενής (-genḗs)lbor. French -gène French glycogènebor. English glycogen Borrowed from French glycogène. By surface analysis, glyco- + -gen.
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Catalan:
glicogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Catalan:
glucogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Chinese Mandarin:
糖原
(tángyuán)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Chinese Mandarin:
肝糖
(gāntáng)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Czech:
glykogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Dutch:
glycogeen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Esperanto:
glikogeno
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Finnish:
glykogeeni
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
French:
glycogène
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
German:
Glykogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Greek:
γλυκογόνο
(glykogóno)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Icelandic:
glýkógen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Icelandic:
dýrasterkja
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Ido:
glikogeno
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Indonesian:
glikogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Italian:
glicogeno
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Japanese:
糖原
(tōgen)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Japanese:
グリコーゲン
(gurikōgen)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Kazakh:
гликоген
(glikogen)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Korean:
글리코젠
(geullikojen)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Malay:
glikogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Malay:
kanji haiwan
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Persian:
گلیکوژن
(gelikožen)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Portuguese:
glicogénio
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Portuguese:
glicogênio
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Russian:
гликоге́н
(glikogén)
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Spanish:
glucógeno
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Swedish:
glykogen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals
Turkish:
glikojen
— polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals