Standard Lemma guide

proline

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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  • /ˈpɹəʊliːn/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A nonessential amino acid C5H9NO2 found in most animal proteins, especially collagen; its cyclic structure leads to kinks in the peptide chain of proteins.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an amino acid that is found in many proteins (especially collagen)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: amino acid, aminoalkanoic acid

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *péh2wr̥ Proto-Hellenic *pāwər Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr) Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Hellenic *-rós Ancient Greek -ρός (-rós) Ancient Greek πῠρρός (pŭrrhós)der. German Pyrrolbor. English pyrrole English -olidine English pyrrolidine English proline Short for pyrrolidine.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: пролин (prolin) — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Catalan: prolina — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Chinese Mandarin: 脯氨酸 (fǔ'ānsuān) — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Czech: prolin — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Esperanto: prolino — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Finnish: proliini — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • French: proline — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • German: Prolin — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Greek: προλίνη (prolíni) — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Hungarian: prolin — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Italian: prolina — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Japanese: プロリン (purorin) — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Polish: prolina — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Romanian: prolină — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Russian: пролин (prolin) — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Slovak: prolín — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Spanish: prolina — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2
  • Swedish: prolin — nonessential amino acid; C5H9NO2