Meanings
present singular third person phosphorylates · participle present phosphorylating · participle past phosphorylated · past phosphorylated
- transitiveTo cause phosphorylation.
The protein made by the viral src gene was so potent and hyperactive that it phosphorylated anything and everything around it.
2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, Fourth Estate (2011), page 359 - intransitiveTo undergo phosphorylation.
Origin
From phosphoryl + -ate (verb-forming suffix), or back-formation from phosphorylation.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish fosforyloida, fosforyloitua
- fosforyloidato cause phosphorylation
- fosforyloituato undergo phosphorylation
Polish dodawać fosforanu do związku organicznego, dodać fosforanu do związku organicznego
- dodawać fosforanu do związku organicznegoto cause phosphorylation
- dodać fosforanu do związku organicznegoto cause phosphorylation
- przechodzić fosforylacjęto undergo phosphorylation
- przejść fosforylacjęto undergo phosphorylation
Portuguese fosforilar
- fosforilarto cause phosphorylation
Spanish fosforilar, fosforilarse
- fosforilarto cause phosphorylation
- fosforilarseto undergo phosphorylation
Swedish fosforylera, fosforylera
- fosforylerato cause phosphorylation
- fosforylerato undergo phosphorylation
Cite this entry
phosphorylate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phosphorylate
“phosphorylate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phosphorylate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phosphorylate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phosphorylate.
Source: phosphorylate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.