glyc-

¹

1. variant of glyco- before a vowel:

   glycemia.

glyc.

²

abbreviation for

1. (in prescriptions) glycerite.

Word History and Origins

Origin of glyc-¹

From the New Latin word glyceritum

Words That Use glyc-

What does glyc- mean?

Glyc– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “sugar” or “glucose and its derivatives.” Glucose is a sugar found in many fruits, animal tissues and fluids, and other sources. Glyc– is often used in scientific terms, especially in chemistry.

Glyc– comes from Greek glykýs, meaning “sweet.” The Latin translation (and perhaps cognate) of glykýs is dulcis, “sweet,” which is the source of sweetness-related terms such as dulcet and, through Italian, dolce vita. To learn more, check out our entries for both words.

What are variants of glyc-?

Glyc- is a variant of glyco-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels.

Less common variants of glyc- are gluco- and gluc-, as in glucolipid and glucan.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on glyco-, gluco-, and gluc-.

Examples of glyc-

A medical term that uses glyc- that you may have encountered is glycemia, “the presence of glucose in the blood.”

The form glyc- means “sugar” or “glucose,” as we already know. The form -emia denotes a blood condition, from Greek haîma. Glycemia literally means “a glucose blood condition.”

What are some words that use the combining form glyc-?

• glycan
• glyceric
• glycerin (using the equivalent form of glyc- in French)
• glycin
• glycol (using the equivalent form of glyc- in French)
• glycose

What are some other forms that glyc- may be commonly confused with?

• glio-
• gloss-
• glott-
• gymn-
• gyr-
• leuc-
• lys-

Break it down!

The suffix -ol denotes chemical derivatives. With this in mind, what does glycol literally mean?