Standard Lemma guide

thymine

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

1

noun

Meaning 1

A heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione; it pairs with adenine in DNA.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, chemistry, genetics, medicine, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a base found in DNA (but not in RNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: T

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pyrimidine

History

Etymology

From thymus + -ine. Thymine was first isolated in 1893 by Albrecht Kossel and Albert Neumann from calves' thymus glands, hence its name.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: тими́н (timín) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Chinese Mandarin: 胸腺嘧啶 (xiōngxiànmìdìng) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Czech: thymin — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Esperanto: timino — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Finnish: tymiini — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • French: thymine — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • German: Thymin — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Hungarian: timin — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Icelandic: týmín — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Italian: timina — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Japanese: チミン (chimin) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Kazakh: тимин (timin) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Kyrgyz: тимин (timin) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Polish: tymina — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Portuguese: timina — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Russian: тими́н (timín) — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione
  • Turkish: timin — organic chemistry, genetics: heterocyclic base, 5-methylpyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione