glyco-

American  

1. a combining form with the meanings “sugar,” “glucose and its derivatives,” used in the formation of compound words.

   glycolipid.

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glyco- British  

combining form

1. indicating sugar

   glycogen

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Usage

What does glyco- mean? Glyco- 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. Glyco- is often used in scientific terms, especially in chemistry. Glyco- 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 glyco-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, glyco- becomes glyc-, as in glycin. Less common variants of glyco- are gluco- and gluc-, as in glucolipid and glucan. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on glyc-, gluco-, and gluc-.

Etymology

Origin of glyco-

Combining form representing Greek glykýs sweet