carbohydrate

English

Etymology

From their general formula C_n(H₂O)_n; they were once thought to be hydrates of carbon.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɑːbəʊˈhaɪdɹeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kɑːɹboʊˈhaɪdɹeɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

carbohydrate (plural carbohydrates)

1. (organic chemistry, nutrition) A sugar, starch, or cellulose that is a food source of energy for an animal or plant.

   Synonyms: carb (informal), saccharide; see also Thesaurus:carbohydrate

   These microbes are primarily responsible for breaking down cellulose and other carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids (VFAs).

   • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:

     Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.

2. (colloquial, by extension, metonymically) Any food rich in starch or other carbohydrates.

   I'm cutting down on carbohydrates like bread and pasta.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• anticarbohydrate
• carbo-load

• complex carbohydrate
• simple carbohydrate

Translations

organic compounds such as sugar, starch or cellulose

• Armenian: ածխաջուր (hy) (acxaǰur)
• Catalan: carbohidrat m, hidrat de carboni m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 碳水化合物 (taan³ seoi² faa³ hap⁶ mat⁶), 醣類, 糖類, 糖类 (tong⁴ leoi⁶)

  Mandarin: 碳水化合物 (zh) (tànshuǐhuàhéwù), 醣類 (zh), 糖類 (zh), 糖类 (zh) (tánglèi)

• Czech: sacharid m
• Danish: kulhydrat
• Dutch: koolhydraat (nl)
• Esperanto: karbonhidrato
• Finnish: hiilihydraatti (fi)
• French: glucide (fr) m
• Galician: carbohidrato m
• German: Kohlenhydrat (de) n
• Greek: υδατάνθρακας (el) m (ydatánthrakas)
• Hawaiian: kōpia
• Icelandic: kolvetni (is) n
• Ido: karbohidrato (io)
• Irish: carbaihiodráit f
• Italian: carboidrato (it) m
• Japanese: 炭水化物 (ja) (たんすいかぶつ, tansuikabutsu), 含水炭素 (がんすいたんそ, gansuitanso) (obsolete)
• Kazakh: көмірсу (kömirsw)

• Korean: 탄수화물 (ko) (tansuhwamul)
• Malay: karbohidrat
• Maori: warowaihā
• Norwegian: kullhydrat (no) n, kolhydrat (no) n

  Bokmål: karbohydrat (no) n

  Nynorsk: karbohydrat n

• Persian: کربوهیدرات‎ (karbohidrât)
• Polish: węglowodan (pl) m
• Portuguese: carboidrato (pt) m
• Romanian: carbohidrat (ro) m
• Russian: углево́д (ru) m (uglevód)
• Scottish Gaelic: gualaisg m
• Spanish: carbohidrato m, hidrato de carbono
• Swahili: hamirojo
• Swedish: kolhydrat (sv) c
• Thai: คาร์โบไฮเดรต (kaa-boo-hai-drèet)
• Turkish: karbonhidrat (tr)
• Vietnamese: hyđat-cacbon
• Welsh: carbohydrad m
• Zhuang: danqsuijvaqhozvuz

Further reading

• carbohydrate on Wikipedia.Wikipedia