Etymology

zwitterion

Z10W4I1T1T1E1R1I1O1N1

Today it means: A molecule, such as an amino acid, that carries both a positive and a negative charge. Full definition →

German Zwitterion
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The story

  1. GermanZwitter
  2. GermanIon
  3. GermanZwitterion
  4. English todayzwitterion

Unadapted borrowing from German Zwitterion, from Zwitter (“hermaphrodite”) + Ion (“ion”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.