choline

/ˈkoʊliːn/

//ˈkoʊliːn// noun

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

The verdict

“choline” is uncommon English (frequency #55,325 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,325
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A hydroxy quaternary ammonium compound with formula (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂CH₂OHX⁻. It is an essential nutrient for cardiovascular and brain health and for cell membrane formation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-choline · choline · English

choline · rank #55,325 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,325
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chinaman

Nearest frequency peer: chinaman (-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 “choline”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for choline
PropertyValue
Headwordcholine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkoʊliːn/
Letters7
Frequency rank#55,325
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “choline” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cholinefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “chinaman” (#55,324), “chih” (#55,323), “circumspect” (#55,327). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “choline” is #55,325. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

choline is uncommon English at frequency #55,325 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkoʊliːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A hydroxy quaternary ammonium compound with formula (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂CH₂OHX⁻. It is an essential nutrient for cardiovascular and brain health and for cell membrane formation.".

choline doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Coined from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). The chemical compound was first isolated by Adolph Strecker from pig and ox bile (hence the name) in 1862. It was also named neurine when chemically synthesized by Oscar Liebreich in 1865, until 1898 when show… The correct English form is choline, spelled C-H-O-L-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A hydroxy quaternary ammonium compound with formula (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂CH₂OHX⁻. It is an essential nutrient for cardiovascular and brain health and for cell membrane formation.

Etymology

Coined from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). The chemical compound was first isolated by Adolph Strecker from pig and ox bile (hence the name) in 1862. It was also named neurine when chemically synthesized by Oscar Liebreich in 1865, until 1898 when shown to be identical to choline.

Synonyms

neurinevitamin Jsincaline

This word in other languages

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 "choline"?
"choline" is spelled C-H-O-L-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkoʊliːn/.
What does "choline" mean?
As a noun, "choline" means: A hydroxy quaternary ammonium compound with formula (CH₃)₃N⁺CH₂CH₂OHX⁻. It is an essential nutrient for cardiovascular and brain health and for cell membrane formation.
How do you pronounce "choline"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "choline" is /ˈkoʊliːn/. 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 "choline"?
Coined from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). The chemical compound was first isolated by Adolph Strecker from pig and ox bile (hence the name) in 1862. It was also named neurine when chemically synthesized by Oscar Liebreich in 1865, until 1898... 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 "choline", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list