Etymology

hypermetabolism

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Today it means: The physiological state of increased metabolic activity, typically occurring after significant damage to the body Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hupér
  4. Ancient Greekῠ̔πέρ (hŭpér)
  5. Ancient Greekῠ̔περ- (hŭper-)
  6. Englishhyper-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*me
  8. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  9. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  10. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  11. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  12. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  13. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  14. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  15. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  16. Englishmetabolism
  17. English todayhypermetabolism

From hyper- + metabolism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.