English
enzyme
Enzyme comes from German Enzym.
- Germanc. 1650–presentEnzym
- Englishtodayenzyme
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentEnzym
- Englishtodayenzyme
A compound of ἐν ‘in’ + ζύμη ‘leaven’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Ancient Greek ἐν ‘in’
Proto-Indo-European *yúHs-meh₂ ‘fermentation, soup’
Ancient Greek ζύμη ‘leaven’
The story
From German Enzym, coined 1878 by the German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + ζύμη (zúmē, “leaven”).
Every English word from German Enzym
Today it means
noun A biomolecule that catalyses a biological chemical reaction: either a globular protein with this function or an RNA molecule with this function.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Enzym / enzyme