Chinese

Noun

蛋白

1. egg white; albumen
2. Short for 蛋白質／蛋白质 (dànbáizhì, “protein”).

Derived terms

Japanese

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 蛋白 ‎(tan? bæk, literally “egg + white”). The kanʻon reading, so likely a later borrowing.

The protein sense is more recent, and developed out of the egg white sense.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) た​んぱく [táꜜǹpàkù] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [tã̠mpa̠kɯᵝ]

Noun

蛋白 ‎(hiragana たんぱく, katakana タンパク, romaji tanpaku)

1. egg white, albumen
2. Abbreviation of 蛋白質 (tanpakushitsu): protein (more common sense in modern Japanese)

Usage notes

Due to the rarity of the first character 蛋, often spelled in katakana, as タンパク.

Synonyms

• (egg white): 卵白 (らんぱく) ‎(ranpaku) (more common)

Derived terms

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9