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fatty acid

American  

noun

Biochemistry.
  1. any of a class of aliphatic acids, especially palmitic, stearic, or oleic acid, consisting of a long hydrocarbon chain ending in a carboxyl group that bonds to glycerol to form a fat.


fatty acid British  

noun

  1. any of a class of aliphatic carboxylic acids, such as palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid, that form part of a lipid molecule

  2. another name for carboxylic acid, used esp of a naturally occurring one

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fatty acid Scientific  
/ fătē /
  1. Any of a large group of organic acids, especially those found in animal and vegetable fats and oils. Fatty acids are mainly composed of long chains of hydrocarbons ending in a carboxyl group. A fatty acid is saturated when the bonds between carbon atoms are all single bonds. It is unsaturated when any of these bonds is a double bond.


Etymology

Origin of fatty acid

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These mutant cells also lacked vesicles, small membrane-bound compartments that typically form inside the peroxisome during fatty acid processing.

From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026

Blood samples from patients with mucormycosis showed higher levels of fatty acid oxidation, which may help explain why they were more susceptible to infection.

From Science Daily • Mar. 3, 2026

Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world's largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

Blood samples were collected before, during, and after supplementation to observe how the body processed the fatty acid.

From Science Daily • Oct. 29, 2025

Omega-6 is another fatty acid essential to humans.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan