Etymology

cometabolism

C3O1M3E1T1A1B3O1L1I1S1M3

Today it means: A process in which a substance may be biodegraded only in the presence of a secondary source of carbon Full definition →

English metabolism ← Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ) ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Latincon-
  6. Latinco-
  7. Englishco-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*me
  9. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  10. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  11. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  12. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  13. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  14. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  15. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  16. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  17. Englishmetabolism
  18. English todaycometabolism

From co- + metabolism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.