Definitions for enzyme
ˈɛn zaɪmen·zyme

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. enzymenoun

   any of several complex proteins that are produced by cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions

GCIDERate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. enzymenoun

   A protein produced by a living organism, capable of catalyzing a chemical reaction. Almost all processes in living organisms require some form of enzyme to cause the reactions to occur at a rate sufficient to support life. There are a very wide variety of enzymes, each specifically catalyzing a different chemical reaction, the sum of which cause the bulk of the physiological changes observed as life processes. Enzymes, like most proteins, are synthesized by the protein-synthetic mechanism of the living cell, at special sites on ribosomes, using the genetic information in messenger RNA transcribed from the genetic instructions stored as nuleotide sequences in the DNA (or in some viruses, the RNA) of the genome. Some examples of enzymes are: pepsin, diastase, rennet, DNA polymerase, invertase, glucose oxidase, protease, and ribonuclease. There are many other types of enzyme.

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. enzymenoun

   A globular protein that catalyses a biological chemical reaction.

2. Etymology: From Enzym, created in 1878, by the German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne from ἐν and ζύμη.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enzyme

   Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. Almost all metabolic processes in the cell need enzyme catalysis in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life.: 8.1  Metabolic pathways depend upon enzymes to catalyze individual steps. The study of enzymes is called enzymology and the field of pseudoenzyme analysis recognizes that during evolution, some enzymes have lost the ability to carry out biological catalysis, which is often reflected in their amino acid sequences and unusual 'pseudocatalytic' properties.Enzymes are known to catalyze more than 5,000 biochemical reaction types. Other biocatalysts are catalytic RNA molecules, called ribozymes. Enzymes' specificity comes from their unique three-dimensional structures. Like all catalysts, enzymes increase the reaction rate by lowering its activation energy. Some enzymes can make their conversion of substrate to product occur many millions of times faster. An extreme example is orotidine 5'-phosphate decarboxylase, which allows a reaction that would otherwise take millions of years to occur in milliseconds. Chemically, enzymes are like any catalyst and are not consumed in chemical reactions, nor do they alter the equilibrium of a reaction. Enzymes differ from most other catalysts by being much more specific. Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules: inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity, and activators are molecules that increase activity. Many therapeutic drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. An enzyme's activity decreases markedly outside its optimal temperature and pH, and many enzymes are (permanently) denatured when exposed to excessive heat, losing their structure and catalytic properties. Some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in the synthesis of antibiotics. Some household products use enzymes to speed up chemical reactions: enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein, starch or fat stains on clothes, and enzymes in meat tenderizer break down proteins into smaller molecules, making the meat easier to chew.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. enzyme

   An enzyme is a type of protein that accelerates or facilitates biochemical reactions in living organisms. They act as a catalyst to convert substrates into different molecules known as products and are crucial for metabolic processes in the cell. Although they speed up reactions, enzymes remain unaltered during the process and can therefore be used repeatedly. Each enzyme is specific to certain reactions due to the unique shape of its active site.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enzymenoun

   an unorganized or unformed ferment, in distinction from an organized or living ferment; a soluble, or chemical, ferment. Ptyalin, pepsin, diastase, and rennet are good examples of enzymes

2. Etymology: [Pref. en- (Gr. 'en in) + Gr. zy`mh leaven.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enzyme

   Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for the thousands of chemical interconversions that sustain life. They are highly selective catalysts, greatly accelerating both the rate and specificity of metabolic reactions, from the digestion of food to the synthesis of DNA. Most enzymes are proteins, although some catalytic RNA molecules have been identified. Enzymes adopt a specific three-dimensional structure, and may employ organic and inorganic cofactors to assist in catalysis. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates sufficient for life. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate of the reaction. As a result, products are formed faster and reactions reach their equilibrium state more rapidly. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts in that they are highly specific for their substrates. Enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions. A few RNA molecules called ribozymes also catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome. Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display enzyme-like catalysis.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. enzyme

   A type of protein.

   An enzyme is a type of protein and contributes to the change of food from one type to another within the human body.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on January 30, 2020  

EntomologyRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Enzyme

   a ferment secreted by a cell or a gland.

Matched Categories

1. • Catalyst
   • Protein

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'enzyme' in Nouns Frequency: #2661

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. [["1823","4"],["1825","2"],["1838","4"],["1857","10"],["1880","2"],["1881","10"],["1882","1"],["1885","10"],["1886","39"],["1887","28"],["1888","3"],["1889","2"],["1890","13"],["1891","149"],["1892","183"],["1893","1029"],["1894","183"],["1895","350"],["1896","170"],["1897","235"],["1898","861"],["1899","2798"],["1900","1494"],["1901","2286"],["1902","1637"],["1903","1179"],["1904","811"],["1905","1523"],["1906","1760"],["1907","3576"],["1908","3897"],["1909","2884"],["1910","3368"],["1911","6433"],["1912","5546"],["1913","4604"],["1914","5260"],["1915","3374"],["1916","5204"],["1917","5173"],["1918","4402"],["1919","3614"],["1920","6861"],["1921","5255"],["1922","4631"],["1923","3833"],["1924","4396"],["1925","3665"],["1926","5823"],["1927","3090"],["1928","3451"],["1929","6316"],["1930","6330"],["1931","4064"],["1932","3029"],["1933","3453"],["1934","3007"],["1935","2901"],["1936","3997"],["1937","6865"],["1938","8592"],["1939","6469"],["1940","4878"],["1941","4941"],["1942","5848"],["1943","5373"],["1944","4914"],["1945","6318"],["1946","9735"],["1947","8502"],["1948","12224"],["1949","20534"],["1950","15094"],["1951","18659"],["1952","14945"],["1953","22641"],["1954","26042"],["1955","24025"],["1956","19122"],["1957","22883"],["1958","25091"],["1959","31108"],["1960","39549"],["1961","39220"],["1962","42620"],["1963","58122"],["1964","52201"],["1965","60833"],["1966","63250"],["1967","57094"],["1968","76988"],["1969","71750"],["1970","112832"],["1971","93876"],["1972","102821"],["1973","107526"],["1974","127338"],["1975","121789"],["1976","123679"],["1977","101772"],["1978","118795"],["1979","115151"],["1980","148455"],["1981","139300"],["1982","131261"],["1983","152085"],["1984","142927"],["1985","151434"],["1986","144750"],["1987","144687"],["1988","137460"],["1989","150841"],["1990","148307"],["1991","141419"],["1992","144224"],["1993","145590"],["1994","145828"],["1995","156643"],["1996","147396"],["1997","164799"],["1998","161914"],["1999","157166"],["2000","163113"],["2001","160611"],["2002","185962"],["2003","167090"],["2004","215832"],["2005","215553"],["2006","206133"],["2007","194038"],["2008","164490"]]

How to pronounce enzyme?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

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   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

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   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

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   Neerja

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   Zira

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   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

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   Fred

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   Tessa

   South African

How to say enzyme in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of enzyme in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of enzyme in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of enzyme in a Sentence

1. John McGeehan:

   We've made an improved version of the enzyme better than the natural one already, that's really exciting because that means that there's potential to optimize the enzyme even further.

2. Rachel Moon:

   While the differences in blood levels of this enzyme were statistically different -- even if this is confirmed by larger, additional studies -- there is enough overlap in the blood levels between cases and controls that it could not be used as a blood test at this point with any reasonable predictive value.

3. Dean Ornish:

   We found that telomerase, the enzyme that repairs and lengthens telomeres, increased by 30% after just three months on the program, then we found that people who had been on the program for five years had telomeres that were about 10% longer, a sign that aging is being reversed on the cellular level.

4. John Crowley:

   What the enzyme is designed to do is to replace the enzyme that's missing or defective in people with Pompe, it's designed to get to muscle cells, including the heart, which is a cardiac muscle, to get to the diaphragm, which is involved of course in breathing, and restore muscle function as best as it can.

5. Michael Hirt:

   Certain foods can lower testosterone levels, the foods that are most likely to do so include cheese… chocolate, and alcohol. These foods lower testosterone by increasing the activity of an enzyme, aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen. The overall effect ofincreased aromatase activityis lower testosterone levels and higher estrogen levels.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=enzyme
2. ^ GCIDE
   https://gcide.gnu.org.ua/?q=enzyme
3. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Enzyme
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enzyme
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=enzyme
8. ^ Entomology
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22748/22748-h/22748-h.htm#:~:text=enzyme
9. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=enzyme