alanine

/ˈæləniːn/

//ˈæləniːn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"alanine" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alanine” is uncommon English (frequency #52,134 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,134
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins

Corpus desk

Index EN-alanine · alanine · English

alanine · rank #52,134 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,134
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Akers

Nearest frequency peer: Akers (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “alanine”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “alanine” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for alanine
PropertyValue
Headwordalanine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæləniːn/
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,134
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “alanine” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).alaninefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Akers” (#52,133), “Ainslie” (#52,132), “Adolphus” (#52,131). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alanine” is #52,134. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

alanine is uncommon English at frequency #52,134 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæləniːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for alanine, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, a… The correct English form is alanine, spelled A-L-A-N-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins
  2. 2
    A specific residue, molecule, or isomer of this amino acid

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how alanine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Potatoes can be a good source of alanine.
  2. Furthermore, wedelolactone also increased the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and decreased the level of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, therefore decreasing the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

Etymology

From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and hydrochloric acid.

Synonyms

AAla

This word in other languages

alanina(Español)alanine(Français)Alanin(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "alanine"?
"alanine" is spelled A-L-A-N-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæləniːn/.
What does "alanine" mean?
As a noun, "alanine" means: A nonessential amino acid 2-aminopropanoic acid found in most animal proteins
How do you pronounce "alanine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alanine" is /ˈæləniːn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alanine"?
From aldehyde + -anine, in reference to aldehyde, with the infix -an- for ease of pronunciation, when the German chemist Adolph Strecker first synthesized alanine in 1850 by mixing acetaldehyde (then just known as aldehyde) with ammonia, hydrogen ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "alanine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Ainslie#52,132anaemia#52,140Wootton#52,109azimuth#52,162

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list