chitin
Syllables: chi·tin/ˈkʌɪtɪn/US/ˈkaɪtɪn/
chitin noun: a complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.
Noun
chitin (countable and uncountable, plural chitins)
- A complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.
- Chitin usually occurs throughout Invertebrates in the form of an investment to the outermost cellular layer or ectoderm.1880, Arthur Gamgee, A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, Macmillan, page 299
- The robot’s energy source is the sugar in the polysaccharide called chitin that makes up a fly’s exoskeleton.2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 19
- Synonyms:
- entomolin
chitin meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malay
chitin in Hindi
- polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi
- कठिनि kaṭhini
chitin in Tamil
- polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi
- கைட்டின் kaiṭṭiṉ
chitin in Kannada
- polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi
- ಕೈಟಿನ್ kaiṭin
chitin in Malay
- polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in arthropod and fungi
- kitin
More languagesFewer languages
- chitin in Indonesian
- kitin
- chitin in Persian
- کیتین
- chitin in Thai
- ไคทิน, ไคติน
Synonyms of chitin
Forms of chitin
| plural | chitins |
|---|
Origin of chitin
From French chitine, from Latin chitōn (“mollusk”), from Ancient Greek χιτών (khitṓn). See also chiton.
Words formed from chitin
Words that rhyme with chitin
Questions about chitin
- What does chitin mean?
- Chitin means a complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.
- What is chitin in Hindi?
- Chitin in Hindi is कठिनि (kaṭhini). See Chitin meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is chitin?
- Chitin is a noun.
- How do you pronounce chitin?
- Chitin is pronounced /ˈkʌɪtɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chitin?
- The plural of chitin is chitins.
Words near chitin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chitin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-chitin.wav.
Cite this entry: “chitin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chitin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.