enzyme English · revision 39403

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1881|origins=grc ζύμη}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɛn.zaɪm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|de|Enzym]], coined by the physiologist Wilhelm Kühne in 1877 (Etymonline and Klein: 1878),^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) from [[gkm|ἔνζυμος|tr=énzumos|t=leavened]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Collins 2023) formed from [[grc|ἐν|tr=en|t=in]] and [[m|grc|ζύμη|tr=zúmē|t=leaven]].^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline, Hoad and the ODE call the Greek adjective modern Greek.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010) Merriam-Webster connects the noun for leaven, perhaps, with [[la|iūs|t=broth]], the source of [[juice]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In biochemistry, a protein made by living cells that acts as a catalyst: 1881, in a paper by W. Roberts in the ''Proceedings of the Royal Society''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The form had appeared in English before that, in 1850, for the leavened bread of the Eucharist in the Greek Church, built directly on the Greek elements.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1850 – the leavened Eucharistic bread of the Greek Church.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1877 – Kühne coins German ''Enzym''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1881 – first English use in biochemistry.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(biochemistry)'' A substance, mostly or wholly [[protein]], made by living cells, that acts as a [[catalyst]] for a specific biochemical reaction, as [[pepsin]] does in digestion.^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' The [[leaven|alt=leavened]] bread used in the [[Eucharist]] of the Greek Church.^(SOED 2002)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[enzymatic]]

+ * [[antienzyme]]

+ * [[ectoenzyme]]

+ * [[endoenzyme]]

+ * [[enzymology]]

+ * [[enzymolysis]]

+ * [[exoenzyme]]

+ * [[isoenzyme]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zymase]]

+ * [[zymo-]]

+ * [[zymogen]]

+ * [[zymogenic]]

+ * [[zymogram]]

+ * [[zymurgy]]

+ * [[juice]]

+ * [[catalyst]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}