porphyrin
/ˈpɔːfɪɹɪn/US/ˈpɔɹfəɹɪn/
porphyrin noun: any of a class of heterocyclic compounds containing pyrrole rings arranged in a square or other similar shape; they are important in biochemistry in a form with a metal atom in the central cavity (hemoglobin with iron, chlorophyll with magnesium, etc.).
Noun
porphyrin (plural porphyrins)
- Any of a class of heterocyclic compounds containing pyrrole rings arranged in a square or other similar shape; they are important in biochemistry in a form with a metal atom in the central cavity (hemoglobin with iron, chlorophyll with magnesium, etc.).
Forms of porphyrin
| plural | porphyrins |
|---|
Origin of porphyrin
From German Porphyrin, shortened from Hämatoporphyrin (“haematoporphyrin”).
Words formed from porphyrin
- arylporphyrin
- benzoporphyrin
- bisporphyrin
- bromoporphyrin
- coproporphyrin
- deuteroporphyrin
- etioporphyrin
- ferriporphyrin
- ferroporphyrin
- geoporphyrin
- hematoporphyrin
- hexaporphyrin
- isoporphyrin
- manganoporphyrin
- mesoporphyrin
- metalloporphyrin
- octabromoporphyrin
- pentaporphyrin
- porphyrinic
- porphyrinogen
- porphyrinogenic
- porphyrinoid
- porphyrinopathy
- porphyrinuria
- protoporphyrin
- subporphyrin
- tetraporphyrin
- texaphyrin
- uroporphyrin
- vinylporphyrin
Questions about porphyrin
- What does porphyrin mean?
- Porphyrin means any of a class of heterocyclic compounds containing pyrrole rings arranged in a square or other similar shape; they are important in biochemistry in a form with a metal atom in the central cavity (hemoglobin with iron, chlorophyll with magnesium, etc.).
- What part of speech is porphyrin?
- Porphyrin is a noun.
- How do you pronounce porphyrin?
- Porphyrin is pronounced /ˈpɔːfɪɹɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of porphyrin?
- The plural of porphyrin is porphyrins.
Words near porphyrin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: porphyrin (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-porphyrin.wav.
Cite this entry: “porphyrin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/porphyrin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.