변이 지방

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 變異 (“transform”) + 脂肪 (“fat”).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈpjɘ(ː)ni t͡ɕiba̠ŋ]
Phonetic hangul: [벼(ː)니 지방]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	byeoni jibang
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	byeon'i jibang
McCune–Reischauer^?	pyŏni chibang
Yale Romanization^?	pyēn.i cipang

Noun

변이 지방 • (byeoni jibang) (hanja 變異脂肪)

(rare, neologism, nativising coinage) Synonym of 트랜스지방 (teuraenseujibang, “trans fat”)

Usage notes

Created by the National Institute of the Korean Language in 2008 to replace the English loanword 트랜스지방 (teuraenseujibang), apparently out of the misconception that trans fat is so named in English because it has been artificially "transformed". In reality, trans fat is named after Cis-trans isomerism and occurs naturally in meat and milk without human intervention. This word is very rarely used.