# arginine

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɑɹɡɪniːn/ · frequency rank #41,511

## Definitions
1. An amino acid found in animal foods that plays an important role in several physiological processes.

## Etymology
From German Arginin, from Ancient Greek ἄργυρος (árguros, “silver”) and ἀργινόεις (arginóeis, “silvery, brightly shining”) in reference to arginine nitrate crystals' silver-white appearance when first refined from lupin seedlings by Ernst Schulze and Ernst Steiger in 1886.

## Easily confused with
- **Argonne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arginine-vs-argonne)
- **asinine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arginine-vs-asinine)
- **argentine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/argentine-vs-arginine)

## Common misspellings (11)
`agrinine`, `argginine`, `argiinne`, `arginien`, `argininne`, `arginnie`, `arginnine`, `argniine`, `arignine`, `arrginine`, `raginine`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/arginine