lactate
lactate Lexical Profile
lactate Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To secrete or produce milk from the mammary glands (of a female mammal).
"Female mammals begin to lactate shortly after giving birth to nourish their newborn offspring."
• noun
A chemical salt or ester of lactic acid, or the ionized form of lactic acid produced in the body during anaerobic metabolism.
"Endurance athletes often monitor their blood lactate levels to optimize their training intensity."
Word Nuance & Usage
The pronunciation shifts by part of speech in many dialects, with the verb typically stressed on the second syllable or first syllable depending on region, while the chemical noun is stressed on the first syllable; in exercise physiology, 'lactate' and 'lactic acid' are often used interchangeably, though lactate specifically refers to the ionized form present at normal bodily pH.
• Rhymes for lactate
Word Origin & Etymology
As a verb, it derives from Latin 'lactatus', the past participle of 'lactare' ('to suckle' or 'to contain milk'), from 'lac' ('milk'). The chemical noun was coined in the 19th century from 'lactic acid' combined with the chemical suffix '-ate'.