Tryptophan

//ˈtɹɪptə(ʊ)fæn// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An essential amino acid with an indole side chain; present in many foods, especially chocolate, oats, banana and milk; it is essential for normal growth and development and is the precursor of serotonin and niacin; any specific form of this compound, or any derivative of it. countable, uncountable

    "The quickest way to raise serotonin levels again is to send more tryptophan into the brain, because serotonin is made from tryptophan."

  2. 2
    an amino acid that occurs in proteins; is essential for growth and normal metabolism; a precursor of niacin wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amino acidtrptrptryptryptryptan

Example

More examples

"The quickest way to raise serotonin levels again is to send more tryptophan into the brain, because serotonin is made from tryptophan."

Etymology

From German Tryptophan, from Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to appear”).

Related phrases

tryptophan synthasetryptophan synthetaseessential amino acidside chain

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