any of a group of complex proteins or conjugated proteins that are produced by living cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
en•zyme /ˈɛnzaɪm/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Biochemistrya protein substance from living cells that is capable of producing certain chemical changes in plants and animals, as in digestion.
en•zyme
(en′zīm),USA pronunciation n. [Biochem.]
- Biochemistryany of various proteins, as pepsin, originating from living cells and capable of producing certain chemical changes in organic substances by catalytic action, as in digestion. Cf. -ase.
- Medieval Greek énzymos leavened (Greek en- en-2 + zý̄m(ē) leaven + -os adjective, adjectival suffix)
- 1880–85
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'enzyme' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-ase
- -in
- Blackburn
- ELISA
- Elisa
- PSA
- acetylcholinesterase
- active site
- adenosine deaminase
- adenylate cyclase
- amidase
- amylopsin
- anticholinesterase
- antienzyme
- antioxidant
- apoenzyme
- arginase
- asparaginase
- biocatalyst
- bioluminescence
- bromelain
- carbonic anhydrase
- catalase
- chlorophyllase
- cholinesterase
- chymopapain
- chymotrypsin
- coenzyme
- coenzyme Q 10
- cofactor
- complex
- creatine kinase
- cyclase
- deactivate
- deamidase
- deaminase
- decarboxylase
- dehydrochlorinase
- dehydrogenase
- dextranase
- diaphorase
- diastase
- digest
- dipeptidase
- disaccharidase
- ectoenzyme
- effector
- endoenzyme
- endopeptidase
- enzymatic