Etymology

protein

P3R1O1T1E1I1N1

Today it means: Any of numerous large, complex naturally-produced molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids, in which the amino acid groups are held together by peptide bonds. Full definition →

French protéine ← German Protein ← Ancient Greek πρωτεῖος
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromπρωτεῖος“primary”
  2. German · derived fromProtein
  3. French · borrowed fromprotéine
  4. English todayprotein

From proto- + -ein. Suggested by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in a letter to Gerardus Johannes Mulder, from French protéine and German Protein, both coined based on Ancient Greek πρωτεῖος (prōteîos, “primary”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”).

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekπρωτεῖος all →

proteic

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.