Etymology

protamine

P3R1O1T1A1M3I1N1E1

Today it means: Any of various strongly basic proteins of relatively low molecular weight that are rich in arginine and are found associated especially with DNA in place of histone in the sperm cells of various animals (such as fish). Full definition →

English amine ← Latin ammoniacus ← Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
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The story

  1. Englishprot-
  2. Egyptianjmn
  3. Ancient GreekᾸ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
  4. LatinAmmōn
  5. Latinammoniacus
  6. Englishammonia
  7. Englishamine
  8. English todayprotamine

From prot- (“original”) + -amine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.