metabolism

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.

metabolism^¹

/mɪˈtab.ə.lɪz.əm/ UK
[mɪˈtab.ə.lɪz.m̩] UK
/məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.əm/ US
[məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.m̩] US
/mɪˈtæb.ə.lɪz.əm/ Australia
[mɪˈtæb.ə.lɪz.m̩] Australia
/mɛ.ʈəˈbɔ.lɪz.əm/ India
[mɛ.ʈəˈbɔ.lɪz.m̩] India

Where it comes from

From Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ism, from μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change, to alter”) + -η (-ē, action noun suffix).

noun metabolisms

countable, uncountable The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. The metabolisms of aerobic bacteria require oxygen
broadly, countable, uncountable The rate at which these processes occur for a given organism Small animals have a much higher metabolism than large animals because they lose more body heat
broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable The processes that maintain any dynamic system. The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]

Metabolism^²

proper noun

A post-war Japanese architectural movement that fused ideas about architectural megastructures with those of organic biological growth.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: metastasis, metamorphosis, metabolic process, metabolize, metabolic, absorption, equilibrium, handling, congresses, metabolites, bioenergetics, anabolism, assimilation, digestion, catabolism, biotransformation

Translations

Every language

noun complete set of chemical reactions that occur in living cells

Español	metabolismo
한국어	신진대사 sinjin daesa, 물질대사 muljil daesa
日本語	代謝 taisha, 新陳代謝 shinchin taisha, 物質代謝 busshitsu taisha
中文	代謝 /代谢 dàixiè, 新陳代謝 /新陈代谢 xīnchén dàixiè
हिन्दी	चयापचय cayāpcay
Kiswahili	metaboli
Português	metabolismo
Français	métabolisme
Deutsch	Stoffwechsel, Metabolismus
Italiano	metabolismo, ricambio
Ελληνικά	μεταβολισμός metavolismós
Română	metabolism
Русский	метаболи́зм metabolízm, обме́н веще́ств obmén veščéstv
Tiếng Việt	trao đổi chất, biến dưỡng
العربية	أَيْض ʔayḍ, تَمْثِيل غِذَائِيّ tamṯīl ḡiḏāʔiyy, اِسْتِقْلَاب istiqlāb
עברית	חילוף חומרים khilúf khomarím, מטבוליזם metabolízem

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{metabolism_2026,
  title = {metabolism},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/metabolism},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}