Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Trypsin
/ˈtrɪpsɪn/noun
A pancreatic enzyme that breaks dietary protein into shorter chains in the small intestine.
The Greek roots
τρῖψις
trîpsis
rubbing, friction
Literally: “rubbing substance”
Follow a root:τρῖψις1 word
The story of the word
Wilhelm Kühne isolated it in 1876 and named it without explaining himself. The usual account ties the name to τρῖψις, rubbing, because he got the enzyme by grinding pancreas with glycerin; others prefer θρύπτειν, to break down, which fits what it does to protein. The argument has never been settled, and the year after, Kühne coined a second word that stuck even harder: enzyme.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → German → English
- First recorded
- 1876
Same family
trypsinogentribologydiatribe
In a sentence
Trypsin is secreted as an inert precursor so the pancreas does not digest itself.
Cell cultures are lifted off the flask with a few drops of trypsin.