enzyme

[ en-zahym ]
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nounBiochemistry.
  1. any of various proteins, as pepsin, originating from living cells and capable of producing certain chemical changes in organic substances by catalytic action, as in digestion.

Origin of enzyme

1
First recorded in 1880–85; from Medieval Greek énzymos “leavened,” from Greek en- en-2 + zȳ́m(ē) “leaven” + -os, adjective suffix

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British Dictionary definitions for enzyme

enzyme

/ (ˈɛnzaɪm) /


noun
  1. any of a group of complex proteins or conjugated proteins that are produced by living cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions

Origin of enzyme

1
C19: from Medieval Greek enzumos leavened, from Greek en- ² + zumē leaven

Derived forms of enzyme

  • enzymatic (ˌɛnzaɪˈmætɪk, -zɪ-) or enzymic (ɛnˈzaɪmɪk, -ˈzɪm-), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for enzyme

enzyme

[ ĕnzīm ]


  1. Any of numerous proteins produced in living cells that accelerate or catalyze the metabolic processes of an organism. Enzymes are usually very selective in the molecules that they act upon, called substrates, often reacting with only a single substrate. The substrate binds to the enzyme at a location called the active site just before the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme takes place. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions by up to a millionfold, but only function within a narrow temperature and pH range, outside of which they can lose their structure and become denatured. Enzymes are involved in such processes as the breaking down of the large protein, starch, and fat molecules in food into smaller molecules during digestion, the joining together of nucleotides into strands of DNA, and the addition of a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP. The names of enzymes usually end in the suffix -ase.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for enzyme

enzyme

[ (en-zeyem) ]


A protein molecule that helps other organic molecules (see also organic molecule) enter into chemical reactions with one another but is itself unaffected by these reactions. In other words, enzymes act as catalysts for organic biochemical reactions.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.