glycogen

[ glahy-kuh-juhn, -jen ]
See synonyms for glycogen on Thesaurus.com
nounBiochemistry.
  1. 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.

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Origin of glycogen

1
First recorded in 1855–60; glyco- + -gen
  • Also called animal starch .

Words Nearby glycogen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use glycogen in a sentence

  • glycogen is also stored in the muscles, where it is oxidized to release energy when the muscles are exercised.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • This blood is very rich in food materials, and from it the cells of the liver take out sugars to form glycogen.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • These pass through the liver, where, as we have seen, sugar is taken from the blood and stored as glycogen.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • Horse flesh is detected by testing for glycogen, which is present in it in larger quantities than in other meats.

  • There exists also in the liver and muscles a non-nitrogenous substance, glycogen, which is detected also in other organs.

British Dictionary definitions for glycogen

glycogen

/ (ˈɡlaɪkəʊdʒən, -dʒɛn) /


noun
  1. 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 glucose: Also called: animal starch

Derived forms of glycogen

  • 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

Scientific definitions for glycogen

glycogen

[ glīkə-jən ]


  1. 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.

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