Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Zymurgy
/ˈzaɪmɜːrdʒi/noun
The branch of applied chemistry dealing with fermentation, especially in brewing.
The Greek roots
ζύμη
zýmē
leaven, ferment
ἔργον
érgon
work, deed
Literally: “leaven work”
The story of the word
Coined in the 1860s from ζύμη and ἔργον, the word survives mostly among homebrewers and as the last entry in dictionaries that finish there, a position it took over from zythum, an ancient Egyptian beer. Pasteur had already shown by then that the work in question is done by a living yeast and not by some chemical restlessness in the wort. Enzyme is built on the same leaven, being literally what is in the yeast.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1868
Same family
enzymezymoticenergyergonomics
In a sentence
He talks about zymurgy the way other people talk about football.
A shelf of zymurgy manuals and six carboys in the garage.