enzyme

English Online Dictionary. What means enzyme‎? What does enzyme mean?

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛn.zaɪm/
• Rhymes: -aɪm
• Hyphenation: en‧zyme

Noun

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

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

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• enzyme on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

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

Noun

enzyme m or f (plural enzymes)

1. (biochemistry) enzyme

Verb

enzyme

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

Further reading

• “enzyme”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.