Etymology

lysosome

L1Y4S1O1S1O1M3E1

Today it means: An organelle found in all types of animal cells which contains a large range of digestive enzymes capable of splitting most biological macromolecules. Full definition →

Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma) ← Proto-Hellenic *styṓmə? ← Proto-Indo-European *(s)tyoH-mn̥
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  2. Ancient Greekλύω (lúō)
  3. Ancient Greekλῠ́σῐς (lŭ́sĭs)
  4. Englishlyso-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*tewh₂-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*twoH-mn̥
  7. Proto-Hellenic*twṓmə?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*styeH-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*(s)tyoH-mn̥
  10. Proto-Hellenic*styṓmə?
  11. Ancient Greekσῶμα (sôma)
  12. English todaylysosome

From lyso- + -some.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.