vitamin D

noun

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Definition of vitamin D

: any or all of several fat-soluble vitamins chemically related to steroids, essential for normal bone and tooth structure, and found especially in fish-liver oils, egg yolk, and milk or produced by activation (as by ultraviolet irradiation) of sterols: such as

a or vitamin D₂ play \-ˈdē-ˈtü\ : calciferol

b or vitamin D₃ play \-ˈdē-ˈthrē\ : cholecalciferol

See vitamin D defined for kids

Recent Examples of vitamin d from the Web

Cooperman, 55, opts for B12, vitamin D in the winter, and iron after donating blood.

— peter andrey smith, Outside Online, "Don't Trust the Label on Your Supplements," 5 July 2018
Fish is the only good dietary sources of vitamin D. Fatty fish is an excellent source of vitamin D, and important nutrient that over 40% of people may be deficient in.

— orthocincy, Cincinnati.com, "Benefits of eating fish," 19 June 2018
How much vitamin D people should get has been a subject of controversy for years.

— laurie mcginley, ajc, "Higher vitamin D levels linked to lower colorectal cancer risk, study finds," 14 June 2018
How much vitamin D people should get has been a subject of controversy for years.

— laurie mcginley, latimes.com, "Higher vitamin D levels linked to lower colorectal cancer risk, study finds," 14 June 2018
The two fist-sized kidneys remove drugs and unwanted compounds from the body and play a critical role in maintaining proper salt and water balance, blood pressure and vitamin D and bone health.

— Smithsonian, "How Putting Organs on Chips Could Revolutionize Medicine," 31 May 2018
On the one hand Schmidt acts like skating rays of vitamin D, a no-bad-days defenseman with all the body language and general life zest of a Muppet baby.

— alex prewitt, SI.com, "From College Hockey to Vegas, the Journey of Haula and Schmidt Could Include the Stanley Cup," 25 May 2018
The supplements include calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins.

— allison horton, miamiherald, "Want to reduce your odds of getting cancer? Stay active, lose weight and eat healthy | Miami Herald," 25 May 2018
Some supplements with vitamin D and zinc, plus D-aspartic acid are available, but the impact is not proven.

— bryant stamford, The Courier-Journal, "Is testosterone replacement therapy safe? Here's what you need to know," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vitamin D.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.