glycogen

[ glahy-kuh-juh n, -jen ]

/ ˈglaɪ kə dʒən, -ˌdʒɛn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR glycogen ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Biochemistry.

a white, tasteless polysaccharide, (C6H10O5)n, molecularly similar to starch, constituting the principal carbohydrate storage material in animals and occurring chiefly in the liver, in muscle, and in fungi and yeasts.

Nearby words

glycinuria, glyco-, glycocalyx, glycocholate, glycocholic acid, glycogen, glycogen acanthosis, glycogen granule, glycogen storage disease, glycogen synthase, glycogenesis

Origin of glycogen

First recorded in 1855–60; glyco- + -gen

Also called animal starch.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for glycogen

It also plays at times the same part as masochistic nightmares, filling as it does, the body with glycogen and a sense of power.
Psychoanalysis|Andr Tridon
Like glucose and fructose, galactose seems to promote the production of glycogen in the body.
Dietetics for Nurses|Fairfax T. Proudfit
Thus we have animal starch, or glycogen, stored up in the liver.
A Practical Physiology|Albert F. Blaisdell
The body readily converts its supply of glycogen into glucose, the form in which the body uses the carbohydrates for fuel.
Dietetics for Nurses|Fairfax T. Proudfit

His potential energy is the food stored up in his body, particularly the glycogen in the liver and muscles.
Applied Eugenics|Paul Popenoe and Roswell Hill Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for glycogen

glycogen

/ (ˈɡlaɪkəʊdʒən, -dʒɛn) /

noun

a polysaccharide consisting of glucose units: the form in which carbohydrate is stored in the liver and muscles in man and animals. It can easily be hydrolysed to glucoseAlso called: animal starch

Derived Forms

glycogenic (ˌɡlaɪkəʊˈdʒɛnɪk), 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

Medicine definitions for glycogen

glycogen

[ glī′kə-jən ]

n.

A polysaccharide that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals and occurs mainly in liver and muscle tissue; it is readily converted to glucose.animal starch

Related forms

gly′co•gen′ic (-jĕn′ĭk) adj.

Science definitions for glycogen

glycogen

[ glī′kə-jən ]

A polysaccharide stored in animal liver and muscle cells that is easily converted to glucose to meet metabolic energy requirements. Most of the carbohydrate energy stored in animal cells is in the form of glycogen.