low-molecular-weight
|low-mo-le-cu-lar-weight|
🇺🇸
/ˌloʊ.məˈlɛk.jə.lɚ ˈweɪt/
🇬🇧
/ˌləʊ.məˈlɛk.jʊ.lə ˈweɪt/
small molecular mass
Etymology
'low-molecular-weight' is a compound formed in modern English from 'low' + 'molecular' + 'weight'. 'molecular' ultimately derives from New Latin/Modern Latin 'molecularis' (from Latin 'molecula', a diminutive of 'moles' meaning 'mass' or 'massive body'), while 'weight' is from Old English 'wi(e)ht' (related to German 'Gewicht').
'molecule' came into scientific English from Latin 'molecula' via early modern scientific Latin and French, becoming 'molecule' and then the adjective 'molecular'. The compound adjective pattern 'X-molecular-weight' is a 20th-century scientific formation using English 'low' and 'weight' to describe molecular mass, producing 'low-molecular-weight'.
Initially the roots referred to 'mass' or 'small mass' (Latin 'molecula'); over time, in scientific English the combined phrase came to mean specifically 'having a relatively small molecular mass' in contexts such as chemistry, pharmacology, and polymer science.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the characteristic or condition of having a low molecular weight; (in context) a substance or fraction that has a low molecular weight.
Researchers measured the low-molecular-weight fraction of the polymer sample.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Adjective 1
having a relatively small molecular weight; describing substances (e.g., compounds, polymers, drugs) whose molecules have low mass.
The low-molecular-weight drug is more likely to penetrate cell membranes.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/04 13:35