noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The principal phospholipid in animals; it is particularly abundant in egg yolks, and is extracted commercially from soy. It is a major constituent of cell membranes, and is commonly used as a food additive (as an emulsifier). countable, uncountable
2. 2
   a yellow phospholipid essential for the metabolism of fats; found in egg yolk and in many plant and animal cells; used commercially as an emulsifier wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

e322e322 when used as an emulsifierphosphatidylcholinephosphatidylcholine

Etymology

From French lécithine, coined in 1847 by Theodore Gobley, from Ancient Greek λέκιθος (lékithos, “egg yolk”).

Related phrases

food additive

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