Standard Lemma guide

phospholipid

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.

  • General-American: /ˌfɑs.foʊˈlɪ.pɪd/
  • General-American: /ˌfɑs.fəˈlɪ.pɪd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any lipid, such as lecithin or cephalin, consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group and a simple organic molecule such as choline or ethanolamine; they are important constituents of biological membranes.

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: phosphatide

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of various compounds composed of fatty acids and phosphoric acid and a nitrogenous base; an important constituent of membranes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: lipid, lipide, lipoid

Narrower terms: lecithin

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bheh2- Proto-Indo-European *bhéh2os Proto-Hellenic *pháwos Ancient Greek φᾰ́ος (phắos) Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs) Proto-Indo-European *bher- Proto-Indo-European *bhéreti Proto-Hellenic *phérō Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek -φόρος (-phóros) Ancient Greek φωσφόρος (phōsphóros)bor. Latin phōsphorusbor. English phosphorus English phospho- Proto-Indo-European *leyp- Proto-Hellenic *lípos Ancient Greek λῐ́πος (lĭ́pos) Proto-Indo-European *dheh1-der. Proto-Italic *-iðos Latin -idusbor. French -ide French lipidebor. English lipid English phospholipid From phospho- + lipid.

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: دُهْن فُوسْفُورِيّ (duhn fusfūriyy) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Arabic: لِيبِيد مُفَسْفَر (libid mufasfar) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Arabic: فُوسْفُولِيبِيد (fusfūlibid) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Chinese Mandarin: 磷脂 (línzhī) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Czech: fosfolipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Danish: fosfolipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Finnish: fosfolipidi — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • French: phospholipide — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • German: Phospholipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Greek: φωσφολιπίδιο (fosfolipídio) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Hindi: भास्ववसा (bhāsvavsā) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Hungarian: foszfolipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Indonesian: fosfolipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Irish: fosfailipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Italian: fosfolipide — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Japanese: リン脂質 (rin-shishitsu) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Japanese: 燐脂質 (rin-shishitsu) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Kazakh: фосфолипид (fosfolipid) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Portuguese: fosfolipídio — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Portuguese: fosfolípide — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Russian: фосфолипи́д (fosfolipíd) — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Spanish: fosfolípido — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group
  • Swedish: fosfolipid — lipid consisting of a diglyceride combined with a phosphate group