cholesterol

See also: cholestérol

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French cholestérol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈlɛstəɹɒl/, /kəˈlɛstɹɒl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

cholesterol (countable and uncountable, plural cholesterols)

1. (biochemistry) A sterol lipid synthesized by the liver and transported in the bloodstream to the membranes of all animal cells; it plays a central role in many biochemical processes and, as a lipoprotein that coats the walls of blood vessels, is associated with cardiovascular disease.
2. The level of cholesterol in the body.

   improve your cholesterol; lower your cholesterol

   • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

     As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

Alternative forms

• cholest. (abbreviation)
• cholesterin, cholesterine (dated)

Derived terms

• acetoxycholesterol
• allocholesterol
• anticholesterol
• bad cholesterol
• bromocholesterol
• chlorocholesterol
• cholesteroid
• cholesterolemia
• cholesterol esterase
• cholesterolosis
• colestipol
• colestolone
• colestyramine
• dehydrocholesterol
• epicholesterol
• epoxycholesterol
• good cholesterol
• hydroxycholesterol
• iodocholesterol
• isocholesterol
• ketocholesterol
• noncholesterol
• oxocholesterol
• photocholesterol
• trihydroxycholesterol

Translations

an essential component of mammalian cell membranes

• Arabic: كُولِسْتِرُول m (kulistirūl)
• Belarusian: халестэры́н m (xaljesterýn)
• Bulgarian: холестеро́л m (holesteról), холестери́н m (holesterín)
• Catalan: colesterol (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膽固醇 / 胆固醇 (zh) (dǎngùchún)

• Czech: cholesterol m
• Dutch: cholesterol (nl) m or n
• Esperanto: kolesterolo, ĥolesterolo
• Finnish: kolesteroli (fi)
• French: cholestérol (fr) m
• Georgian: ქოლესტერინი (kolesṭerini) (mainstream term), ქოლესტეროლი (kolesṭeroli) (rarer)
• German: Cholesterin (de) n
• Greek: χοληστερίνη (el) f (cholisteríni), χοληστερόλη (el) f (cholisteróli)
• Hawaiian: naʻokoko
• Hungarian: koleszterin (hu)
• Icelandic: kólesteról (is) n
• Interlingua: cholesterol
• Italian: colesterolo (it) m
• Japanese: コレステロール (ja) (koresuterōru)
• Khmer: កូលេស្តេរ៉ុល (kouleisteerol)
• Korean: 콜레스테롤 (kolleseuterol) (South Korea), 콜레스테린 (kolleseuterin) (North Korea)
• Latin: cholestērolum
• Latvian: holesterīns m
• Maori: ngakototo
• Mongolian: холестерин (mn) (xolesterin)
• Navajo: adił akʼah bił ałtahígíí
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kolesterol (no) m or n

  Nynorsk: kolesterol m or n

• Persian: کلسترول (kolesterol)
• Polish: cholesterol (pl) m
• Portuguese: colesterol (pt) m
• Romanian: colesterol (ro) m
• Russian: холестери́н (ru) m (xolesterín)
• Slovak: cholesterol m
• Slovene: holesterol m
• Spanish: colesterol (es) m
• Swedish: kolesterol (sv) n
• Thai: คอเลสเตอรอล, โคเลสเตอรอล
• Turkish: kolesterol (tr)
• Ukrainian: холестеро́л m (xolesteról)
• Volapük: kesterin

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈxolɛstɛrol]

Noun

cholesterol m inan

1. cholesterol

Declension

Declension of cholesterol (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	cholesterol	cholesteroly
genitive	cholesterolu	cholesterolů
dative	cholesterolu	cholesterolům
accusative	cholesterol	cholesteroly
vocative	cholesterole	cholesteroly
locative	cholesterolu	cholesterolech
instrumental	cholesterolem	cholesteroly

Further reading

• “cholesterol”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “cholesterol”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “cholesterol”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cholesterol. First attested in the 1920s, ultimately displacing cholesterine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌxɔ.lɛstəˈrɔl/, /ˌxɔ.ləstəˈrɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cho‧les‧te‧rol
• Rhymes: -ɔl

Noun

cholesterol m or n (uncountable)

1. cholesterol

   Synonyms: cholesterine, galvet

Descendants

• → Indonesian: kolèstêrol

Interlingua

Noun

cholesterol (plural)

1. cholesterol

Polish

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English cholesterol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xɔ.lɛsˈtɛ.rɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrɔl
• Syllabification: cho‧les‧te‧rol

Noun

cholesterol m inan (related adjective cholesterolowy)

1. (organic chemistry) cholesterol (essential component of mammalian cell membranes)

Declension

Declension of cholesterol

	singular
nominative	cholesterol
genitive	cholesterolu
dative	cholesterolowi
accusative	cholesterol
instrumental	cholesterolem
locative	cholesterolu
vocative	cholesterolu

Related terms

adjective

• antycholesterolowy

Further reading

• cholesterol in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• cholesterol in Polish dictionaries at PWN