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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/ˈpɛktɪn/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P EH1 K T AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:P EH1 K T IH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A plant-derived polysaccharide found in cell walls (especially in fruits) that forms a gel under acidic conditions and is commonly used to thicken foods like jam and jellies.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Apple is rich in pectin and so is often added to other fruits when making jam so it will set.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: E440, vegetable jelly
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
any of various water-soluble colloidal carbohydrates that occur in ripe fruit and vegetables; used in making fruit jellies and jams
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cellulose
History
Etymology
From French pectine, coined in the 1830s by Henri Braconnot, from acide pectique "pectic acid", from Ancient Greek πηκτικός (pēktikós, “curdling”), from πηκτός (pēktós, “curdled”), from πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “stiffen”).
Across languages
Translations
24 source translations are retained for this English entry.
