The intrinsic persistence length of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is determined by size exclusion chromatography in combination with multiangle laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS) as well as from potentiometric titrations. Samples with degree of substitution (ds) ranging from 0.75 to 1.25 were investigated. The relation between molar mass M and radius of gyration R-g as obtained by SEC-MALLS is determined in 0.02, 0.1, and 0.2 mol L-1 NaNO3. Using the electrostatic wormlike chain theory a bare (intrinsic) persistence length L-p0 of CMC is assessed at 16 nm, irrespective of the degree of substitution. A somewhat lower value (12 nm) is obtained when Odijk＇s theory for the description of polyelectrolyte dimensions is applied. The difference between L-p0 assessed from both models is discussed briefly. Potentiometric titrations were carried out in NaCl solutions (ranging from 0.01 to 1 mol L-1). From the titrations the radius of the CMC backbone was obtained by application of the model of a uniformly charged cylinder. The radius amounts to 0.95 nm for CMC ds = 0.75, and increases to 1.15 nm for CMC with ds = 1.25. The pK for the intrinsic dissociation constant of the carboxyl groups (i.e., at zero degree of dissociation) amounted to 3.2. L-p0 was also deduced from potentiometric titrations. A model developed by Katchalsky and Lifson, which relates the dissociation behavior of a polyelectrolyte to the stiffness of its chain, was applied to CMC. From analyses of the potentiometric titrations an intrinsic persistence length of 6 nm was deduced. The difference between L-p0 assessed from SEC-MALLS and potentiometric titrations is discussed briefly.