Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

metabolite

American  
[muh-tab-uh-lahyt] / məˈtæb əˌlaɪt /

noun

Biology, Physiology.
  1. a product of metabolic action.


metabolite British  
/ mɪˈtæbəˌlaɪt /

noun

  1. a substance produced during or taking part in metabolism

"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

metabolite Scientific  
/ mĭ-tăbə-līt′ /
  1. A substance produced by metabolism.

  2. A substance necessary for or taking part in a particular metabolic process. Examples of metabolites are glucose in the metabolism of sugars and starches, amino acids in the biosynthesis of proteins, and squalene in the biosynthesis of cholesterol.


Etymology

Origin of metabolite

First recorded in 1880–85; metabol(ism) + -ite 1

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.

See Examples For:

They compared metabolite levels among centenarians, offspring, and controls, while also identifying molecules that changed with chronological age.

From Science Daily Jul. 5, 2026

To create the compounds, the researchers combined several amino acids with tryptamine, a naturally occurring metabolite derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan.

From Science Daily May 14, 2026

Further analysis revealed that mice with the mutation produced increased levels of ATDR, a metabolite derived from vitamin A, in their brains.

From Science Daily Apr. 15, 2026

He tracked changes in the microbial populations using advanced DNA analysis and metabolite profiling to better understand how fermentation unfolds.

From Science Daily Mar. 16, 2026

They added liquid solutions containing each metabolite to cultured human skin cells.

From Science Daily Nov. 29, 2025

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training