enzymen.

1850 J. M. Neale Hist. Holy Eastern Church 1074 ‘If,’ says he [Theorianus, A.D. 1170], ‘the Divine virtue changes the oblations into the Body and Blood of Christ, it is superfluous to dispute whether they were of Azymes or Enzymes, or of red or white wine.’

1881 W. Roberts in Proc. Royal Soc. 32 146 I would suggest the desirability of adopting this term [Ger. enzym] into English, with a slight change of orthography, as ‘enzymes’, and also of coining from this root the cognate words which are requisite for clear and concise description.

1890 A. S. Lea in Jrnl. Physiol. 11 254 (note) I would suggest that the word ‘zymolysis’ might be.. used to denote generally the changes produced by the enzymes or unorganised ferments.

1898 Ann. Bot. 12 491 The alcoholic fermentation of sugar is effected by the activity of an enzyme or soluble ferment.

1899 J. R. Green Soluble Ferm. viii. 108 Bechamp thought that the enzyme from fungi was not quite the same as that existing in the flowers... He gave to the first the name zymase... The name zymase was soon abandoned, as it began to be applied to enzymes in general.

1902 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 81 373 The phenomenon of fermentation is caused by enzyme action.

1903 Westm. Gaz. 20 Oct. 8/2 An enzyme-secreting organism..has been conveyed to the farm.

1908 Chambers's Jrnl. July 541/2 The hydrogen peroxide is decomposed by the enzyme catalase present in the milk into water.

1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley Animal Biol. iv. 106 Each digestive enzyme is a definite substance with the property of bringing about, or enormously speeding up, a particular chemical reaction.

1930 Chem. Abstr. 1654 The polypeptidase group includes enzymes which require the presence of a free NH₂ and others which require a free COOH in the substrate. Probably these groups are the point of attachment in the formation of enzyme-substrate compd.

1948 Sci. News 7 125 They are the parts of digestive juices which break up and dissolve the fat, starch and meat of food; they are also responsible for fermentation: the word ‘enzyme’ in fact means merely ‘in yeast’.

1953 New Biol. 15 112 The enzyme-catalyzed reactions which make up this machinery [of a living organism] are nearly always reversible.

1969 New Scientist 16 Oct. 122/1 Its great breakthrough with the enzyme wash powders brought troubles at both ends of the product.

1900 A. J. Ewart tr. W. Pfeffer Physiol. Plants I. viii. 503 Even in an actively growing plant an abundant supply of the products of enzymatic action may partly or wholly inhibit the formation of the enzyme in question.

1942 Ann. Reg. 1941 344 [Enzyme research] suggested strongly that enzymatic activity is vested in the protein molecule itself.

1968 Times 19 Nov. 6/7 Sulphur compounds are known to be important inhibitors of enzymatic processes.

1944 Ann. Rev. Physiol. 6 277 Renin which was released by the ischemic kidney acted enzymatically upon a serum globulin.

1956 Nature 24 Mar. 575/1 Even in the presence of enzymatically generated peroxide, catalase did not catalyse the oxidation of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid to homogentisic acid.

1968 Physics Bull. Dec. 433 Several different species of spherical cells were treated enzymatically to remove their outer coats.

1881 W. Roberts in Proc. Royal Soc. 32 146 The action of an enzyme may be designated enzymosis, and the nature of the action may be spoken of as enzymic.

1899 J. R. Green Soluble Ferments (1901) i. 12 Additional instances of enzymic powers.

1905 J. L. Baker Brewing Industry 99 The unorganised ferments were termed ‘enzymes’ and their action spoken of as ‘enzymic action’.

1956 Nature 14 Jan. 80/1 Since..cresolase activity is an enzymic..process, molecular oxygen must combine at some stage with enzyme or enzyme-substrate complex.

1968 Listener 11 July 49/1 The biochemical enzymic machinery in the muscles.

1949 A. A. Miles & N. W. Pirie Nature Bacterial Surface i. 5 There is a group of mucopolysaccharides whose presence in certain organisms is essential for the stability of the cell membrane, and..these can be destroyed enzymically.

1962 A. Pirie Lens Metabolism 429 Lactic acid was estimated colorimetrically..and enzymically.