in vitro

See also: invitro and in-vitro

English

Alternative forms

• in-vitro (as attributive adjective)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin in vitro, from vitrum (“glass”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

in vitro (not comparable)

1. In an artificial environment outside the living organism.

   Antonym: in vivo

   • 2017 March 21, Carl Zimmer, “A New Form of Stem-Cell Engineering Raises Ethical Questions”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 March 2017:

     In recent years, scientists have moved beyond in vitro fertilization. They are starting to assemble stem cells that can organize themselves into embryolike structures.

   • 2025 September 22, Lauren Gardner, “Co-author of study linking Tylenol to autism says pain reliever still an option”, in POLITICO‎^[2]:

     So you know, we have a good case with an increasing body of evidence, supported by a trifecta of research from human epidemiology, animal and in vitro studies, which suggests that prenatal acetaminophen or paracetamol might alter fetal development, increasing the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Translations

adjective: in an artificial environment outside the living organism

• Catalan: in vitro (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 離體 / 离体 (lítǐ)

• French: in vitro (fr)
• Italian: in vitro (it)
• Khmer: ក្នុងកែវ (knongkaew)
• Persian: در جام (dar jâm)
• Portuguese: in vitro (pt)
• Spanish: in vitro (es)

Adverb

in vitro (not comparable)

1. In an artificial environment outside the living organism.

   Antonym: in vivo

Derived terms

• in vitro fertilization
• vitroplant

Translations

adverb: in an artificial environment outside the living organism

• Hungarian: lombikban, laboratóriumi körülmények között, in vitro (hu)

See also

• in silico

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin in vitro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪn ˈvi.troː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

in vitro

1. in vitro

Interlingua

Phrase

in vitro

1. in vitro

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin in vitrō (literally “in glass”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in ˈvi.tro/
• Hyphenation: in‧vì‧tro

Adjective

in vitro (invariable)

1. in vitro

   Synonym: in provetta

Derived terms

• fecondazione in vitro

Anagrams

• nitrivo, rinvito, rinvitò, rivinto, tornivi

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin in vitro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈvi.trɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -itrɔ
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

Adjective

in vitro (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (biology, medicine) in vitro

Adverb

in vitro (not comparable)

1. (biology, medicine) in vitro

Further reading

• “in vitro”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “in vitro”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin in vitrō (literally “in glass”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈĩ ˈvi.tɾu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈin ˈvi.tɾɔ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈin ˈvi.tɾɔ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈin ˈbi.tɾɔ/ [ˈin ˈβi.tɾɔ]

Adjective

in vitro (invariable)

1. (higher register) in vitro

   Antonym: in vivo

   • 2001 October, Edenio Detmann et al., “Cromo e indicadores internos na determinação do consumo de novilhos mestiços, suplementados, a pasto [Chromium and internal markers in intake determination by crossbred steers, supplemented at pasture]”, in Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, volume 30, number 5, Viçosa: Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia; UFV, →DOI, page 1601, column 2:

     Assim, a técnica in vitro não seria considerada adequada para ser utilizada como indicador de digestibilidade na determinação do consumo a pasto.

     Thus, the in vitro techinique wouldn't be deemed appropriate to be used as a digestibility marker for determining pasture consumption.

Adverb

in vitro

1. (higher register) in vitro

   Antonym: in vivo

   • 2016, “Desafios da extração do RNA do vírus da dengue” (chapter 25), in Rodrigo Ribeiro Resende, Carlos Ricardo Soccol, editors, Biotecnologia aplicada à agro&indústria: fundamentos e aplicações, volume 4, São Paulo: Blucher, →ISBN, Possibilidades terapêuticas e/ou industriais (section 25.11), page 956:

     O isolamento da transcriptase reversa de um retrovírus […] permitiu que a transcrição reversa fosse feita in vitro, em uma etapa anterior à PCR, a qual, então, amplifica o DNA.

     The isolation of a retrovirus reverse transcriptase allowed for the reverse transcription to be made in vitro, at a step before the PCR, which, then, aplifies the DNA.

Further reading

• “in vitro”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “in vitro”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “in vitro”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “in vitro”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌim ˈbitɾo/ [ˌĩm ˈbi.t̪ɾo]
• Syllabification: in vi‧tro

Adjective

in vitro (invariable)

1. in vitro (in an artificial environment, outside the living organism)

Further reading

• “in vitro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025