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enzyme

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Enzyme and enzymé

English

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Etymology

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From German Enzym, coined 1878 by the German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ ζύμη (zúmē, “sourdough”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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enzyme (countable and uncountable, plural enzymes)

  2. (biochemistry) A biomolecule that catalyses a biological chemical reaction: either a globular protein with this function or an RNA molecule with this function.
    Hypernym: biocatalyst
    Hyponym: ribozyme
    2. (strictly) The protein type specifically.
      Hypernym: biocatalyst
      Hyponym: see list
      Coordinate term: ribozyme
  3. (Christianity) Leavened bread, as opposed to azyme.

Usage notes

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Before 1980, protein enzymes were the only known type, so the word enzyme invariably meant that type. Since RNA catalysis was discovered, ribozymes are often viewed as a type of enzyme (in the newer and broader sense of the word), but even today, their name is often used coordinately with the stricter sense.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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French

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French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

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From Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ ζύμη (zúmē, “sourdough”).

Noun

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enzyme m or f (plural enzymes)

  1. (biochemistry) enzyme

Verb

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enzyme

  1. inflection of enzymer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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