Etymology

phosphorelay

P3H4O1S1P3H4O1R1E1L1A1Y4

Today it means: The multi-stage process, involving the movement of phosphoryl groups by histidine kinases, of bacterial signal transduction Full definition →

English relay ← Latin phōsphorus ← Ancient Greek φωσφόρος (phōsphóros)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Ancient Greekφωσφόρος (phōsphóros)
  7. Latinphōsphorus
  8. Englishphosphorus
  9. Englishphospho-
  10. Englishrelay
  11. English todayphosphorelay

From phospho- + relay.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.