Etymology

protometabolism

P3R1O1T1O1M3E1T1A1B3O1L1I1S1M3

Today it means: A series of linked chemical reactions, in a prebiotic environment, that has characteristics of true metabolism. Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*pró
  4. Ancient Greekπρό (pró)
  5. Ancient Greekπρῶτος (prôtos)
  6. Ancient Greekπρωτο- (prōto-)
  7. Englishproto-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*me
  9. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  10. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  11. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  12. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  13. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  14. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  15. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  16. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  17. Englishmetabolism
  18. English todayprotometabolism

From proto- + metabolism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.