adip-

Adip- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “fat, fatty tissue.”  It is often used in medical and scientific terms, including in biology and chemistry.

Adip- ultimately comes from the Latin adeps, meaning “fat, lard, grease.”

Adip- is a variant of adipo-, which loses its -o– when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use adipo- article.

An example of a term related to adip- you may have heard of is adipose. As an adjective, adipose means “fatty, relating to fat.” As a noun, adipose is animal fat stored in the fatty tissue of the body.

Adipose is based on the Latin adip- (a form of the word adeps used to create new words) and -ōsus, meaning “full of, abounding in” and source of the English suffixes -ose and -ous.

Adipose literally means “full of fat.” (Don’t you go around calling anyone adipose, though!)

What are some words that use the combining form adip-?

• adipic acid (source of adipate)
• adipoid
• adiposis
• adiposity

What are some other forms that adip- may be commonly confused with?

• aden-
• lip-

Adipic acid has many important purposes, including making nylon. Based on the meaning of adip-, what is adipic acid obtained from?