lipid

IPA/ˈlɪpɪd/
KK[lˈaɪpəd]IPA/ˈlɪpɪd/

lipid — noun

  • lipidsingular
  • lipidsplural

1. any of a class of natural substances, such as fats and oils, that cannot mix wit

1.nounB2
Definition

any of a class of natural substances, such as fats and oils, that cannot mix with water and form the outer layer of all living cells

Example

Dr. Amara Okafor checks her patients lipid levels during every annual health exam.

collocation: lipid levels

Olive oil and avocados contain healthy lipids that provide energy for the body.

collocation: contain healthy lipids

Common collocations
  • lipid levels
  • lipid profile
  • lipid metabolism
  • dietary lipids
  • blood lipids
  • lipid bilayer
  • healthy lipids
  • unhealthy lipids
Synonyms
  • fat

    more common in everyday speech; lipid is the scientific term for the whole class of fatty substances

  • oil

    refers specifically to lipids that are liquid at room temperature, such as olive or sunflower oil

  • wax

    refers to solid lipids of plant or animal origin, such as beeswax

Antonyms
  • protein

    a different class of organic compounds that dissolve in water and have very different functions in the body

Grammar Patterns

lipid + verb (singular or plural depending on usage)

Usage Note

Frequently used in medical and scientific contexts; in everyday conversation, the word fat is more common than lipid.

Common Mistakes

Lipids are the same thing as body fat.
Lipids include fats, oils, and waxes
body fat is just one type of lipid.' — lipid is a broader category than body fat.

Word family

  • lipids
    noun (plural)B2
  • lipoprotein
    nounC1
  • lipase
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Lipid is the broad scientific term for a class of organic compounds that do not mix with water. Fat is the everyday word people use most often — a doctor might say "your lipid levels are high" but a friend would say "this meal has too much fat." Oil refers specifically to lipids that stay liquid at room temperature, like olive oil or sunflower oil. Wax describes solid lipids of plant or animal origin, such as beeswax or the waxy coating on apple skins. On nutrition labels, the term "total fat" covers several types of lipids in food.

fat ↗oil ↗wax ↗

Etymology

GreekInternational Scientific VocabularyEnglish

The word lipid comes from the Greek word lipos, meaning fat, combined with the scientific suffix -id, which indicates a substance related to something. Scientists created the term in the early 1900s as a precise name for the group of fatty compounds found in living cells.