Etymograph

English

peptide

Peptide comes from Ancient Greek πεπτόν ‘cooked, digested’, from πέσσω ‘to soften, ripen’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pékʷ-ye-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pékʷ-ye-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pét͏̌t͏̌ō‘to ripen’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέσσωpéssō‘to soften, ripen’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπέπτωpéptō‘soften, ripen, boil, cook, bake, digest’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπεπτόνpeptón‘cooked, digested’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentPepton
  7. German, derivedc. 1650–presentPeptid
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2004peptide

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pékʷ-ye-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pét͏̌t͏̌ō‘to ripen’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέσσωpéssō‘to soften, ripen’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπέπτωpéptō‘soften, ripen, boil, cook, bake, digest’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπεπτόνpeptón‘cooked, digested’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentPepton
  7. German, derivedc. 1650–presentPeptid
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2004peptide

Earliest quotation: 2004, Harold McGee, Scribner: “When it’s digested, its long amino-acid chains are first…”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek πέσσω ‘to soften, ripen’

dyspepsia, 8 more

Today it means

noun Any of a class of organic compounds consisting of various numbers of amino acids in which the amine of one is reacted with the carboxylic acid of the next to form an amide bond. Such molecules joined into polypeptides and proteins constitute crucial components of living organisms.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pékʷ-ye- / peptide

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