Phrase guide

monosodium glutamate

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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1

noun

Meaning 1

The mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid; present in soy sauce; used as a condiment in Chinese and Japanese cooking, and as a food additive to enhance flavor and add the umami taste. Abbreviations: MSG, E621.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: 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

white crystalline compound used as a food additive to enhance flavor; often used in Chinese cooking

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • food manufacturers sometimes list MSG simply as `artificial flavors' in ingredient lists

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: MSG

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: flavorer, flavourer, flavoring, flavouring, seasoner, seasoning

History

Etymology

From sodium + glutamic acid.

Across languages

Translations

49 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: натриев глутамат (natriev glutamat) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Burmese: အချိုမှုန့် (a.hkyuihmun.) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Catalan: glutamat de monosodi — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Cebuano: bitsin — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese Cantonese: 味精 — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese Cantonese: 穀氨酸鈉 /谷氨酸钠 (guk1 on1 syun1 naap6) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Hakka Chinese: 味素 (mi-su) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese: 味素 (zh-min-nan) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 味精 (wèijīng) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 穀氨酸鈉 /谷氨酸钠 (gǔ'ānsuānnà) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 麩胺酸鈉 /麸胺酸钠 (fū'ānsuānnà) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Czech: glutaman sodný — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Dutch: ve-tsin — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Dutch: mononatriumglutamaat — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Finnish: natriumglutamaatti — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Finnish: mononatriumglutamaatti — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • French: glutamate monosodique — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • French: glutamate de sodium — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • German: Mononatriumglutamat — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Greek: γλουταμινικό μονονάτριο (gloutaminikó mononátrio) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Hungarian: mononátrium-glutamát — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Hungarian: nátrium-glutamát — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Indonesian: micin — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Indonesian: vetsin — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Indonesian: natrium glutamat — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Italian: glutammato monosodico — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Japanese: グルタミン酸ナトリウム (gurutaminsan-natoriumu) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Japanese: 味の素 (ajinomoto) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Khmer: ម្សៅស៊ុប (msav sup) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Khmer: ប៊ីចេង (biiceeng) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Korean: 글루타민산나트륨 (geullutaminsannateuryum) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Korean: 미원 (miwon) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Lao: ແປ້ງນົວ (pǣng nūa) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Polish: glutaminian sodu — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Portuguese: glutamato monossódico — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Portuguese: glutamato de sódio — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Russian: глутама́т на́трия (glutamát nátrija) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Spanish: glutamato monosódico — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Swedish: natriumglutamat — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Tagalog: betsin — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Tamil: அஜினோமோட்டோ (ajiṉōmōṭṭō) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Thai: สารชูรส (săan choo rót) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Thai: โมโนโซเดียมกลูตาเมต (mohnoh sohdiam gloodtaamâyt) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Thai: ผงชูรส (pŏng choo rót) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Uyghur: ۋېيجىڭ (wëyjing) — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Vietnamese: bột ngọt — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Vietnamese: mì chính — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Vietnamese: mononatri glutamat — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid
  • Vietnamese: vị tinh — mono sodium salt of the amino acid, glutamic acid