🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

小分子

Pronunciation / Transliteration: shōbunshi

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Small-Molecule/smɔːl ˈmɒlɪkjuːl/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #1500 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"小分子は細胞に容易に侵入します。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A low molecular weight organic compound that is able to enter cells easily and interact with biological molecules.

    "Small-molecule drugs are often used in the treatment of various diseases due to their ability to penetrate cell membranes."
  2. 2

    A compound that is typically less than 900 daltons in molecular weight, often used in pharmaceuticals.

    "Research into small-molecule inhibitors has led to significant advancements in cancer therapy."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term 'small-molecule' is derived from the combination of 'small', originating from Old English 'smaell', meaning little or not large, and 'molecule', which comes from the Latin 'molecula', a diminutive of 'moles', meaning mass or bulk. The term has evolved in the context of chemistry and biology to refer to low molecular weight compounds that can easily enter cells.

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