enzyme

American  

[en-zahym] / ˈɛn zaɪm /

noun

Biochemistry.

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.

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enzyme British  

/ ɛnˈzaɪmɪk, ˈɛnzaɪm, ˌɛnzaɪˈmætɪk, -zɪ-, -ˈzɪm- /

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

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enzyme Scientific  

/ ĕn′zīm /

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.

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enzyme Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• enzymatic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of enzyme

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

Explanation

An important element in human chemistry, an enzyme is a protein manufactured by a cell, and is a catalyst in various biological functions. For example, enzymes help break down larger molecules of starch, fat, and protein during digestion. The word enzyme was coined by a German physiologist in the late 1800s to name a digestive process that scientists had been observing. The word was later given to the actual agents discovered to spark the reactions, taken from the Greek énzymos, which meant "leavened." (Leavening makes bread rise.) Remember that the word enzyme is spelled with a y and not an i, which makes sense, since when scientists observe chemical processes, they often ask "why?"

Example Sentences

When vitamin B7 is not available, the enzyme stops working, and cell growth comes to a halt.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

The team found that this process depends on a mitochondrial enzyme called pyruvate carboxylase.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

To narrow the search, the team focused on an enzyme called prohormone convertase 1/3, which cuts proteins at specific locations and has been linked to obesity.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

"We thought, if you have a problem with this enzyme, there's going to be multiple aspects of your biology that are not working properly."

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

Mutations might occur during replication if the enzyme DNA polymerase makes a mistake.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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