melanin
/ˈmɛlənɪn/noun
melanin is spelled M-E-L-A-N-I-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, melanin means “Any of a group of naturally occurring dark pigments, especially the pigment found in skin, hair, fur, and feathers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of melanin is melanins.
How many letters and syllables are in melanin?
| Letters | 7: M-E-L-A-N-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is melanin?
Melanin appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce melanin?
- US /ˈmɛlənɪn/
- Australia /ˈmelənɪn/
- /ˈmelənən/
Melanin has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-melanin.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-melanin.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with melanin?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as melanin (/ɛlənɪn/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lineman.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of melanin
- melanins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does melanin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of a group of naturally occurring dark pigments, especially the pigment found in skin, hair, fur, and feathers.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Melanin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dark pigment:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does melanin come from?
From New Latin, from Ancient Greek stem of μέλας (mélas, “black”) + -in; by surface analysis, melan(o)- + -in.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).