Standard Lemma guide

sebum

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.

  • /ˈsiːbəm/
  • /ˈsiːbm̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A thick oily substance, secreted by the sebaceous glands of the skin, that consists of fat, keratin and cellular debris.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the oily secretion of the sebaceous glands; with perspiration it moistens and protects the skin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: secretion

Narrower terms: smegma

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sēbum (“tallow, grease; suet”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: sèu — thick oily substance
  • Chinese Cantonese: 皮脂 (pei4 zi1) — thick oily substance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 皮脂 (pízhī) — thick oily substance
  • Czech: lůj — thick oily substance
  • Dutch: talg — thick oily substance
  • Finnish: tali — thick oily substance
  • French: sébum — thick oily substance
  • German: Talg — thick oily substance
  • Hindi: त्वग्वसा (tvagvasā) — thick oily substance
  • Icelandic: húðfeiti — thick oily substance
  • Italian: sebo — thick oily substance
  • Japanese: 皮脂 (hishi) — thick oily substance
  • Korean: 피지 (piji) — thick oily substance
  • Korean: 개기름 (gaegireum) — thick oily substance
  • Latin: sebum — thick oily substance
  • Polish: łój — thick oily substance
  • Portuguese: sebo — thick oily substance
  • Russian: ко́жное са́ло (kóžnoje sálo) — thick oily substance
  • Slovak: maz — thick oily substance
  • Spanish: sebo — thick oily substance
  • Swedish: talg — thick oily substance
  • Vietnamese: bã nhờn — thick oily substance