dephosphorylation

noun

The removal of phosphate groups from a compound, especially from a biological compound

OriginEnglish phosphorylation ← Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē) ← Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.? →
UncommonScrabble 31
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundephosphorylation (countable and uncountable, plural dephosphorylations)

plural dephosphorylations

  1. countableuncountablebiochemistryThe removal of phosphate groups from a compound, especially from a biological compound

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Englishde-
  7. Englishphosphor
  8. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  9. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  10. Englishphosphoryl
  11. Englishphosphorylation
  12. Englishdephosphorylation

From de- + phosphorylation.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

dephosphorylation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dephosphorylation

MLA

“dephosphorylation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dephosphorylation. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dephosphorylation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dephosphorylation.

Source: dephosphorylation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.