molecular
Americanadjective
adjective
-
of or relating to molecules
molecular hydrogen
-
logic (of a sentence, formula, etc) capable of analysis into atomic formulae of the appropriate kind
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of molecular
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How does molecular compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adjective molecular to describe something that has to do with or is made up of molecules. If you're studying molecular biology, you're focusing on the molecules that make up living things. When a scientist studies things on a molecular level, she's looking at them up close, examining their cells. The adjective molecular comes up most often in biology and chemistry, and it always describes the very smallest units that make up organisms or elements. Molecular comes from the noun molecule, which means "extremely minute particle," from the Latin molecula, "tiny mass."
Vocabulary lists containing molecular
1.7.B Using Ice to Keep Orange Groves Warm
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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.
“Sustained investment in public health has enabled development of the advanced molecular tools that detected these infections,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
Lithgow said sleep was one of the most important factors, as it turns on molecular processes that initiate repairing and recovery in the body.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
By applying a principle commonly found in biology, precise control at the molecular scale, and adapting it into a scalable materials technology, the researchers have demonstrated how nature-inspired design can help solve major industrial challenges.
From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026
Alas, the results are mixed, betraying the stark limits of this approach and the need for a kind of history that fully integrates anguished medieval chronicles with modern molecular evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
But even if life on another planet has the same molecular chemistry as life here, there is no reason to expect it to resemble familiar organisms.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
