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; a saccharide.

   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. (nutrition) a food rich in starch or other carbohydrates

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:carbohydrate

Derived terms

Derived terms

• anticarbohydrate
• carbo-load

• complex carbohydrate
• simple carbohydrate

Translations

organic compounds; sugar, starch or cellulose

• Armenian: ածխաջուր (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, karbohydrát 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 (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