carnitine

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

carnitine

/ˈkɑː.nɪt.iːn/ UK
/ˈkɑɹ.nəˌtiːn/ US

Where it comes from

From German Carnitin, coined from Latin carn- + Latin -i- + -t- (“arbitrary insertion”) + -in, for it was first described in meat extracts in 1905. By surface analysis, Latin carnit- + -ine.

noun carnitines

countable, uncountable A betaine, 3-hydroxy-4-trimethylammonio-butanoate, that is found in the liver and has a function in fatty acid transport. Although often called an amino acid because of its chemical makeup, L-carnitine is actually a vitaminlike nutrient, related in structure to the B vitamins. L-carnitine is the biologically active form of carnitine.
Similar: CAR

Translations

Every language

noun an organic compound

日本語	カルニチン karunichin
Italiano	carnitina

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"carnitine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/carnitine. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

carnitine. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/carnitine

Chicago

"carnitine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/carnitine.

BibTeX

@misc{carnitine_2026,
  title = {carnitine},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/carnitine},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}