Etymology

esterase

E1S1T1E1R1A1S1E1

Today it means: Any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of an ester Full definition →

English diastase ← Ancient Greek δῐᾰ́στᾰσῐς (dĭắstăsĭs) ← Proto-Hellenic *hístāmi
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱéh₁yeti
  3. Proto-Italic*akēō
  4. Latinaceō
  5. Latinacēscō
  6. Latinacētum
  7. Proto-West Germanic*aket
  8. Proto-West Germanic*atek
  9. Old High Germaneȥȥih
  10. Middle High Germaneȥȥich
  11. GermanEssich
  12. GermanEssig
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  14. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  15. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  16. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  17. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  18. Latinaethēr
  19. GermanÄther
  20. GermanEster
  21. Englishester
  22. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  23. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  24. Proto-Indo-European*dwís
  25. Ancient Greekδιά (diá)
  26. Ancient Greekδῐᾰ- (dĭă-)
  27. Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
  28. Proto-Indo-European*stísteh₂ti
  29. Proto-Hellenic*hístāmi
  30. Ancient Greekῐ̔́στημῐ (hĭ́stēmĭ)
  31. Ancient Greekδῐῐ̈́στημῐ (dĭĭ̈́stēmĭ)
  32. Ancient Greekδῐᾰ́στᾰσῐς (dĭắstăsĭs)
  33. Englishdiastase
  34. English todayesterase

From ester + -ase.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.