metabolite
Americannoun
noun
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A substance produced by metabolism.
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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.
"This promotes production of the metabolite N1-acetylspermidine, which contributes to the ability of butyrate-treated IEC-conditioned medium to induce IL-10 production in CD4⁺ T-cells."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
"The significance of this work is that it identifies a mechanism by which a microbiota-derived metabolite can create durable epithelial T-cell crosstalk," Yu said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Some metabolite changes appeared after consumption of both the tomato-soy juice and the control tomato juice, indicating that tomatoes may produce biological effects even without high levels of lycopene.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 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
The scientists now aim to characterize each metabolite in greater detail and determine how they are produced.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 14, 2025
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