Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lactose

/ˈlæk.toʊs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.13 in modern English

Syllables
lac-tose
IPA
/ˈlæk.toʊs/
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The disaccharide sugar of milk and dairy products, C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, a product of glucose and galactose used as a food and in medicinal compounds.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from French lactose, from Latin lac (“milk”) + -ose (derivation of glucose). Coined by French chemist Marcelin Berthelot.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈlæk.toʊs/
  • British English: /ˈlæk.təʊs/

Usage

Inflected Forms

lactoses (plural)

Derived Forms

allolactose lactard lactosamine lactoseamine lactoside lactosuria

Phrases

lactose-free lactose intolerance lactose intolerant lactose-negative lactose-positive

Frequently Paired Words

lactase lactulose

Synonyms

lactobiose milk sugar

Rhymes With

galactose

Questions

How do you pronounce lactose?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlæk.toʊs/.
What does lactose mean?
The disaccharide sugar of milk and dairy products, C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁, a product of glucose and galactose used as a food and in medicinal compounds.
Where does lactose come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce lactose

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “lactose”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈlæk.toʊs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “lactose”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “lactose” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.