adenine

noun

ad·​e·​nine ˈa-də-ˌnēn 

: a purine base C₅H₅N₅ that codes hereditary information in the genetic code in DNA and RNA compare cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil

Examples of adenine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those rungs are made up of pairs of four different chemical building blocks, called bases — adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine (A,T,C and G). —F.d. Flam, Mercury News, 26 Nov. 2025

This four-tone greeting is not a specific communication per-se, but the nucleotides of guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine, which represent the building blocks of RNA. —Jeff Spry, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025

There are four different bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). —IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2025

Biology’s four bases—adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G)—encode the instructions that keep life alive. —Andrew Whalen, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Adenin, from Greek aden-, adḗn "gland" + German -in -ine entry 2; so called from its presence in glandular tissue — more at adeno-

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing adenine

• flavin adenine dinucleotide
• nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
• nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

Rhymes for adenine

• acrolein
• alkylene
• aniline
• anthracene
• aquiline
• asphaltene
• atlantean
• atrazine
• butadiene
• butylene
• caesarean
• carnitine

Kids Definition

adenine

noun

ad·​e·​nine ˈad-ᵊn-ēn 

: one of the bases which make up the genetic code of DNA and RNA compare cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil

Medical Definition

adenine

noun

ad·​e·​nine ˈad-ᵊn-ˌēn 

: a purine base C₅H₅N₅ that codes hereditary information in the genetic code in DNA and RNA compare cytosine, guanine, thymine, uracil