ornithine
noun
ornithine is spelled O-R-N-I-T-H-I-N-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 103,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ornithine means “An amino acid, 2,5-diaminopentanoic acid, that is not present in protein, but is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of urea (the urea cycle)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ornithine is ornithines.
How many letters and syllables are in ornithine?
| Letters | 9: O-R-N-I-T-H-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 103,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ornithine?
Ornithine appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 103,949th 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).
Forms of ornithine
- ornithines plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ornithine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An amino acid, 2,5-diaminopentanoic acid, that is not present in protein, but is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of urea (the urea cycle).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ornithine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense amino acid:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ornithine |
| German | Ornithin |
| Spanish | ornitina |
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 ornithine come from?
Blend of ornith- + (ur)ine. The name "ornithine" is in reference to its discovery as a benzoate ester in chicken excrement, by Max Jaffe in 1877.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).