noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A nonessential amino acid, amino-acetic acid, C₂H₅NO₂ found in most proteins but especially in sugar cane; the simplest amino acid. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the simplest amino acid found in proteins and the principal amino acid in sugar cane wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

amino acidaminoacetic acide640e640genus glycinegly

Example

More examples

"Is there a simpler amino acid than glycine?"

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”) + -ine.

Related phrases

insulin glargineamino acidnonessential amino acidsugar cane

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.