Etymology

biopolymer

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Today it means: Any macromolecule of a living organism that is formed from the polymerization of smaller entities; a polymer that occurs in a living organism or results from life. Full definition →

English polymer ← Ancient Greek μέρος (méros) ← Proto-Hellenic *(h)méros
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Ancient Greekβῐ́ος (bĭ́os)
  3. Ancient Greekβῐο- (bĭo-)
  4. Englishbio-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  7. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  8. Englishpoly-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*(s)mer-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*(s)méros
  11. Proto-Hellenic*(h)méros
  12. Ancient Greekμέρος (méros)
  13. Englishpolymer
  14. English todaybiopolymer

From bio- + polymer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.