Etymology

heterometabolism

Today it means: The form of insect development in which the nymph is very similar to the adult and matures without becoming a pupa Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sḿ̥teros
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hə́teros
  4. Ancient Greekἕτερος (héteros)
  5. Englishhetero-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*me
  7. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  8. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  9. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  10. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  11. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  12. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  13. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  14. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  15. Englishmetabolism
  16. English todayheterometabolism

From hetero- + metabolism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.