bilirubin

See also: Bilirubin

English

Etymology

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Bilirubin. By surface analysis, bili- +‎ rub- +‎ -in. The German word was naturalized into other languages as international scientific vocabulary (e.g., bilirubin, bilirubine, bilirubina).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪlɪˈɹuːbɪn/

Noun

bilirubin (countable and uncountable, plural bilirubins)

1. (biochemistry) A bile pigment that is a product of the breakdown of the heme portion of hemoglobin (which occurs within macrophages as they digest red blood cells), and which is responsible for the yellowish color seen in bruises. Extremely high levels of bilirubin may cause jaundice.
   • 2022, Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Picador, page 339:

     The doctors said this was very common, just her new-born liver catching up with the rest of her — the build-up of bilirubin in her blood. The substance red blood cells produce when broken down.

Hypernyms

• bile pigment

Coordinate terms

• bilicyanin
• biliverdin

Related terms

• bilirubinate
• bilirubinometer
• bilirubinometry
• hyperbilirubinemia

 

Translations

bile pigment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膽紅素／胆红素 (zh) (dǎnhóngsù)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: bilirubiini (fi)
• French: bilirubine (fr) f
• German: Bilirubin (de) n
• Greek: χολερυθρίνη (el) f (cholerythríni)
• Irish: bilearúibin m
• Japanese: ビリルビン (birirubin)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: bilirubina (pl) f
• Portuguese: bilirrubina (pt) f
• Russian: билируби́н (ru) m (bilirubín)
• Turkish: bilirübin

Further reading

• bilirubin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia