Etymology

invertase

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Today it means: An enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose into glucose and fructose (invert sugar), used by bees to produce honey and in the food industry to soften chocolate. Full definition →

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

  1. Englishinvert
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  3. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dwís
  5. Ancient Greekδιά (diá)
  6. Ancient Greekδῐᾰ- (dĭă-)
  7. Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*stísteh₂ti
  9. Proto-Hellenic*hístāmi
  10. Ancient Greekῐ̔́στημῐ (hĭ́stēmĭ)
  11. Ancient Greekδῐῐ̈́στημῐ (dĭĭ̈́stēmĭ)
  12. Ancient Greekδῐᾰ́στᾰσῐς (dĭắstăsĭs)
  13. Englishdiastase
  14. English todayinvertase

From invert + -ase.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.