The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PROTEIN
Definition of PROTEIN
noun
Any of numerous large, complex naturally-produced molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids, in which the amino acid groups are held together by peptide bonds.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From proto- + -ein. Suggested by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in a letter to Gerardus Johannes Mulder, from French protéine and German Protein, both coined based on Ancient Greek πρωτεῖος (prōteîos, “primary”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- German
- French
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
12.6%
of traced words share this origin (3,695)
branch · 12.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PROTEIN · 1 relative in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PROTEIN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 20 boards so far. 22 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 14, 3 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 140, 7 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 8 days.
First found by a player on Day 14, 3 June 2026.
Built from these letters
PROTEIN starts with P and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read EINOPRT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
4 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start PROTEI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 14
Could you have found PROTEIN?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 14 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER