Phrase guide

lactic acid

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

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  • /ˈlæktɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

2-Hydroxypropanoic acid (CH3CHOHCO2H), a syrupy liquid, soluble in water; found in milk, wine and many fruits; used as a food additive and in many industrial applications.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a clear odorless hygroscopic syrupy carboxylic acid found in sour milk and in many fruits

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: carboxylic acid

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կաթնաթթու (katʻnatʻtʻu) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Asturian: ácidu láctico — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Basque: azido laktiko — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Belarusian: малочная кіслата (malóčnaja kislata) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Bulgarian: млечна киселина (mlečna kiselina) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Catalan: àcid làctic — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Chinese Mandarin: 乳酸 (rǔsuān) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Czech: kyselina mléčná — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Danish: mælkesyre — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Dutch: melkzuur — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Esperanto: laktacido — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Esperanto: lakta acido — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Esperanto: laktata acido — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Estonian: piimhape — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Faroese: mjólkarsýra — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Finnish: maitohappo — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • French: acide lactique — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Galician: ácido láctico — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Georgian: რძემჟავა (rʒemžava) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • German: Milchsäure — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Greek: γαλακτικό οξύ (galaktikó oxý) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Hungarian: tejsav — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Icelandic: mjólkursýra — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Indonesian: asam laktat — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Irish: aigéad lachtach — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Italian: acido lattico — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Japanese: 乳酸 (nyūsan) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Kazakh: сүт қышқылы (süt qyşqyly) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Korean: 락트산 (rakteusan) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Latin: acidum lacticum — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Latvian: pienskābe — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Lithuanian: pieno rūgštis — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Luxembourgish: Mëllechsaier — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Macedonian: млечна киселина (mlečna kiselina) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Malay: asid laktik — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Māori: waikawa waiū — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: melkesyre — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mjølkesyre — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mjølkesyre — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Persian: اسید لاکتیک — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Polish: kwas mlekowy — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Portuguese: ácido lático — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Russian: моло́чная кислота́ (molóčnaja kislotá) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Serbo-Croatian: mliječna kiselina — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Slovak: kyselina mliečna — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Slovene: mlečna kislina — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Spanish: ácido láctico — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Swedish: mjölksyra — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Thai: กรดแล็กติก — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Thai: กรดน้ํานม — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Turkish: laktik asit — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Ukrainian: моло́чна кислота́ (molóčna kyslotá) — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Uzbek: sut kislota — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Welsh: asid lactig — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)
  • Welsh: asid llaeth — 2-hydroxy-propanoic acid (CH3.CHOH.CO2H)