Etymology

actin

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Today it means: A globular structural protein that polymerizes in a helical fashion to form an actin filament (or microfilament). Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἀκτίς
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἀκτίς“ray”
  2. English todayactin

From Ancient Greek ἀκτίς (aktís, “ray”), based on the shape of the filament formed, + -in.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἀκτίς all →

actino-actinostactinula

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.