fatty acid

== English == === Pronunciation === === Noun === fatty acid (plural fatty acids) (organic chemistry, biochemistry) Any of a class of aliphatic carboxylic acids, of general formula CnH2n+1COOH, that occur combined with glycerol as animal or vegetable oils and fats. Only those with an even number of carbon atoms are normally found in natural fats. ==== Usage notes ==== The above general formula applies to the saturated fatty acids. Remove 2 hydrogen atoms for an unsaturated fatty acid, and 2 hydrogen atoms for every double bond in a polyunsaturated fatty acid. ==== Hyponyms ==== See also Thesaurus:fatty acid ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “fatty acid”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.