Standard Lemma guide

yolk

noun · verb · 5 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /jəʊk/
  • US: /joʊk/
  • US, dialectal: /jɔlk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: yoke
  • rhymes with -əʊk
  • rhymes with -əʊlk
  • CMU ARPABET: Y OW1 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The yellow, spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the white albumen, and serves as nutriment for the growing young.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • To make meringue, you have to separate the white from the yolk.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: egg yolk, ovoplasma, vitellus

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The grease in a sheep's fleece; lanolin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To produce yolk.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

nutritive material of an ovum stored for the nutrition of an embryo (especially the yellow mass of a bird or reptile egg)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vitellus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: food, nutrient

5

noun

Meaning 5

the yellow spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the albumen

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: egg yolk

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ingredient, fixings

History

Etymology

From Middle English yolke, yelke, ȝolke, ȝelke, from Old English ġeolca, ġeoloca, ġioleca (“the yellow part, yolk”), derived from Old English ġeolu (“yellow”) + -ca (diminutive suffix).

Across languages

Translations

173 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: eiergeel — yellow of egg
  • Afrikaans: dooier — yellow of egg
  • Albanian: verdhë veze — yellow of egg
  • Arabic: صَفَار اَلْبَيْض (ṣafār al-bayḍ) — yellow of egg
  • Arabic: أَصْفَر اَلْبَيْض (ʔaṣfar al-bayḍ) — yellow of egg
  • Arabic: مُحّ (muḥḥ) — yellow of egg
  • Arabic: صفار (ṣafār) — yellow of egg
  • Arabic: صفار (ṣafār) — yellow of egg
  • Armenian: դեղնուց (deġnucʻ) — yellow of egg
  • Aromanian: gãlbinush — yellow of egg
  • Assamese: কুহুম (kuhum) — yellow of egg
  • Asturian: yema — yellow of egg
  • Azerbaijani: yumurta sarısı — yellow of egg
  • Basque: gorringo — yellow of egg
  • Belarusian: жаўто́к (žawtók) — yellow of egg
  • Bengali: কুসুম (kuśum) — yellow of egg
  • Bau Bidayuh: sikonang — yellow of egg
  • Breton: melen-vi — yellow of egg
  • Bulgarian: жълтък (žǎltǎk) — yellow of egg
  • Burmese: အနှစ် (a.hnac) — yellow of egg
  • Catalan: rovell — yellow of egg
  • Cebuano: pughak — yellow of egg
  • Chinese Cantonese: 蛋黃 /蛋黄 — yellow of egg
  • Chinese Cantonese: 黃 /黄 — yellow of egg
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蛋黃 /蛋黄 (dànhuáng) — yellow of egg
  • East Circassian: джэдыкӏэ кугъуэ (džɛdəkʼɛ kwuğwɛ) — yellow of egg
  • West Circassian: кӏэнкӏэ кугъу (kʼɛnkʼɛ kwuğwu) — yellow of egg
  • Czech: žloutek — yellow of egg
  • Danish: æggeblomme — yellow of egg
  • Dutch: dooier — yellow of egg
  • Dutch: eidooier — yellow of egg
  • Dutch: eigeel — yellow of egg
  • Dutch: eierdooier — yellow of egg
  • Erzya: алтюжа (alťuža) — yellow of egg
  • Esperanto: ovoflavo — yellow of egg
  • Faroese: reyði — yellow of egg
  • Faroese: eggjareyði — yellow of egg
  • Finnish: munankeltuainen — yellow of egg
  • Finnish: keltuainen — yellow of egg
  • Finnish: ruskuainen — yellow of egg
  • French: jaune d'œuf — yellow of egg
  • French: jaune — yellow of egg
  • French: moyeu — yellow of egg
  • Galician: xema — yellow of egg
  • Georgian: კვერცხის გული (ḳvercxis guli) — yellow of egg
  • German: Eigelb — yellow of egg
  • German: Dotter — yellow of egg
  • German: Eidotter — yellow of egg
  • Greek: κρόκος (krókos) — yellow of egg
  • Greek: κροκάδι (krokádi) — yellow of egg
  • Ancient Greek: λέκιθος (lékithos) — yellow of egg
  • Gujarati: જરદી (jardī) — yellow of egg
  • Hebrew: חֶלְמוֹן (khelmón) — yellow of egg
  • Hiligaynon: batog — yellow of egg
  • Hindi: ज़रदी (zardī) — yellow of egg
  • Hindi: ज़र्दी (zardī) — yellow of egg
  • Hungarian: tojássárgája — yellow of egg
  • Hungarian: sárgája — yellow of egg
  • Hungarian: szik — yellow of egg
  • Icelandic: eggjarauða — yellow of egg
  • Icelandic: eggjablómi — yellow of egg
  • Ido: vitelo — yellow of egg
  • Indonesian: kuning telur — yellow of egg
  • Ingrian: ruskulain — yellow of egg
  • Ingrian: keltulain — yellow of egg
  • Irish: buíocán — yellow of egg
  • Italian: tuorlo — yellow of egg
  • Italian: rosso d'uovo — yellow of egg
  • Japanese: 卵黄 (ran'ō) — yellow of egg
  • Japanese: 黄身 (kimi) — yellow of egg
  • Japanese: 蛋黄 — yellow of egg
  • Kabuverdianu: jéma — yellow of egg
  • Kalmyk: өндгн (öndgn) — yellow of egg
  • Kashmiri: زوٗن (zūn) — yellow of egg
  • Khün: ᨾᩬᩁᨡᩱ᩵ — yellow of egg
  • Kinaray-a: batog — yellow of egg
  • Korean: 노른자 (noreunja) — yellow of egg
  • Korean: 난황 (nanhwang) — yellow of egg
  • Central Kurdish: زەردێنە (zerdêne) — yellow of egg
  • Northern Kurdish: zerik — yellow of egg
  • Northern Kurdish: zerika hêkê — yellow of egg
  • Lao: ມອນໄຂ່ (mǭn khai) — yellow of egg
  • Lao: ໄຂ່ແດງ (khai dǣng) — yellow of egg
  • Latin: vitellus — yellow of egg
  • Latin: vitellum — yellow of egg
  • Latvian: dzeltenums — yellow of egg
  • Lithuanian: trynys — yellow of egg
  • Low German: Dodder — yellow of egg
  • Low German: Eigeel — yellow of egg
  • : ᦙᦸᧃᦺᦃᧈ (moanẋay1) — yellow of egg
  • : ᦺᦃᧈᦡᦶᧂ (ẋay1ḋaeng) — yellow of egg
  • Luxembourgish: Dueder — yellow of egg
  • Luxembourgish: Eegiel — yellow of egg
  • Macedonian: жо́лчка (žólčka) — yellow of egg
  • Maguindanao: mariga sa leman — yellow of egg
  • Malay: kuning telur — yellow of egg
  • Malay: yolka — yellow of egg
  • Maltese: l-isfar tal-bajd — yellow of egg
  • Manchu: ᠶᠣᡥᠣ (yoho) — yellow of egg
  • Central Melanau: kunieng teloh — yellow of egg
  • Middle English: yelke — yellow of egg
  • Mongolian: ѳндѳгний шар (öndögnii šar) — yellow of egg
  • Khiamniungan Naga: vēulūimôngshòk — yellow of egg
  • Norwegian Bokmål: eggeplomme — yellow of egg
  • Norwegian Bokmål: plomme — yellow of egg
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: eggeplomme — yellow of egg
  • Old English: ġeoloca — yellow of egg
  • Ossetian: айчы бур (ajḱy bur) — yellow of egg
  • Pannonian Rusyn: жовчок (žovčok) — yellow of egg
  • Pannonian Rusyn: жольчок (žolʹčok) — yellow of egg
  • Persian: زرده (zarde) — yellow of egg
  • Polabian: carmăk — yellow of egg
  • Polish: żółtko — yellow of egg
  • Portuguese: gema — yellow of egg
  • Romanian: gălbenuș — yellow of egg
  • Romansh: mellen d'ov — yellow of egg
  • Romansh: mellen d'iev — yellow of egg
  • Romansh: melen d'ov — yellow of egg
  • Romansh: mellan d'öv — yellow of egg
  • Romansh: gelg d'öv — yellow of egg
  • Russian: желто́к (želtók) — yellow of egg
  • Scottish Gaelic: buidheagan — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: жуманце — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: жуманaц — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: жумањак — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: žumance — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: žumanac — yellow of egg
  • Serbo-Croatian: žumánjak — yellow of egg
  • Shan: မွၼ်းၶႆႇ (máun khài) — yellow of egg
  • Shan: ၶႆႇလႅင် (khài lěng) — yellow of egg
  • Slovak: žĺtok — yellow of egg
  • Slovene: rumenjak — yellow of egg
  • Lower Sorbian: cenk — yellow of egg
  • Upper Sorbian: žołtk — yellow of egg
  • Upper Sorbian: žołte — yellow of egg
  • Upper Sorbian: čwork — yellow of egg
  • Southern Altai: јымыртканыҥ сарызы (ǰïmïrtkanïŋ sarïzï) — yellow of egg
  • Spanish: yema — yellow of egg
  • Swahili: kiini cha yai — yellow of egg
  • Swedish: äggula — yellow of egg
  • Swedish: gula — yellow of egg
  • Sylheti: ꠇꠥ (ku) — yellow of egg
  • Tagalog: pula ng itlog — yellow of egg
  • Tagalog: apyak — yellow of egg
  • Tagalog: burok — yellow of egg
  • Tahitian: reʻa — yellow of egg
  • Tai Dam: ꪣꪮꪙꪼꪎ꪿ — yellow of egg
  • Tai Dam: ꪼꪎ꪿ꪵꪒꪉ — yellow of egg
  • Tamil: கரு (karu) — yellow of egg
  • Tamil: மஞ்சள் கரு (mañcaḷ karu) — yellow of egg
  • Tarifit: rmeḥḥ — yellow of egg
  • Thai: ไข่แดง (kài-dɛɛng) — yellow of egg
  • Northern Thai: ᨾᩬᩁᨡᩱ᩵ — yellow of egg
  • Northern Thai: ᨡᩱ᩵ᨯᩯ᩠ᨦ — yellow of egg
  • Turkish: yumurta sarısı — yellow of egg
  • Ottoman Turkish: یومورطه صاریسی (yumurta sarısı) — yellow of egg
  • Ukrainian: жовто́к (žovtók) — yellow of egg
  • Unami: ènta wisaèk òòl — yellow of egg
  • Urdu: زَرْدِی (zardī) — yellow of egg
  • Uzbek: tuxumning sarig'i — yellow of egg
  • Vietnamese: lòng đỏ — yellow of egg
  • Walloon: djaene d'oû — yellow of egg
  • Walloon: ploumete — yellow of egg
  • Walloon: cassete — yellow of egg
  • Walloon: moyoû — yellow of egg
  • Welsh: melynwy — yellow of egg
  • Yakan: igad — yellow of egg
  • Yiddish: געלכל (gelkhl) — yellow of egg
  • Zhuang: gyaeqhenj — yellow of egg
  • Zhuang: gyaeqhak — yellow of egg
  • Zhuang: myonzlieng — yellow of egg
  • Zhuang: hakhenj — yellow of egg
  • ǃXóõ: ǁáa — yellow of egg