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zwitterion

¹ American

[tsvit-er-ahy-uhn] / ˈtsvɪt ərˌaɪ ən /

noun

Physical Chemistry.

an ion with both a positive and a negative charge.

zwitterion ² American

[tsvi-ter-ahy-uhn, -ahy-ahn, zwi-] / ˈtsvɪ tərˌaɪ ən, -aɪˌɑn, ˈzwɪ- /

noun

plural

zwitterions

Chemistry. a molecule that has an equal number of positive and negative charges.

zwitterion British

/ ˌtsvɪtəraɪˈɒnɪk, ˈtsvɪtərˌaɪən /

noun

chem an ion that carries both a positive and a negative charge

"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

Other Word Forms

zwitterionic

adjective

Etymology

Origin of zwitterion

< German Zwitterion (1897), equivalent to Zwitter hybrid, hermaphrodite + Ion ion

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023