vitamin D

English

Alternative forms

• vit. D (abbreviation)

Etymology

From vitamin +‎ D (“4th letter”). From being the fourth vitamin discovered. Coined in 1922 by Elmer McCollum, who discovered the vitamin.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

vitamin D (uncountable)

1. (biochemistry) Any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins, required for normal bone development and preventing rickets, that can be manufactured in the skin on exposure to sunlight.

   Synonym: sunshine vitamin

   Hypernyms: hormone, steroid

2. (slang, humorous, somewhat vulgar) A dick (“penis”), especially in a sexual context.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis

Coordinate terms

• 7-dehydrocholesterol
• calciferol
• calcitriol
• cholecalciferol
• dehydrocholesterol
• dihydroxycalciferol
• dihydroxycholecalciferol
• ergocalciferol
• hydroxycalciferol
• hydroxycholecalciferol
• lumicalciferol
• sitocalciferol

Derived terms

• dihydroxyvitamin-D
• hydroxyvitamin-D
• previtamin D
• previtamin D₃
• VDR, vitamin D receptor
• vitamin D₁
• vitamin D₂
• vitamin D₃
• vitamin D₄
• vitamin D₅

Translations

any of a number of fat-soluble vitamins

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 維生素D / 维生素D (wéishēngsù D)

• Dutch: vitamine D m or f
• Esperanto: vitamino D
• Finnish: D-vitamiini
• Georgian: D ვიტამინი (D viṭamini), ვიტამინი D (viṭamini D)
• German: Vitamin D n
• Hungarian: D-vitamin (hu)
• Japanese: ビタミンD (bitamin D)
• Korean: 비타민 D (bitamin D)
• Portuguese: vitamina D f
• Russian: витами́н D m (vitamín D)
• Swahili: vitamini D
• Swedish: D-vitamin (sv)