Etymology

metabolite

M3E1T1A1B3O1L1I1T1E1

Today it means: Any substance produced by, or taking part in, a metabolic reaction. Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*me
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  3. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  4. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  6. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  7. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  8. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  9. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  10. Englishmetabolism
  11. English todaymetabolite

From metabolism + -ite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.