Adenylate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈdɛn.ə.leɪt/

Definitions

1. A salt or ester formed from adenylic acid by replacing hydrogen with a metal or organic group
2. A compound derived from adenylic acid where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by metal ions or organic radicals
3. Any chemical compound consisting of adenylic acid combined with a metal ion or organic moiety forming a salt or ester

Etymology: Adenylate is a chemistry coinage built from "adenyl," the name for the adenosine-monophosphate group, plus the suffix "-ate." Adenosine itself was named after "adenine," the purine base whose name comes from Greek "adēn," meaning gland, because the substance was first isolated from gland tissue. So the word carries a glandular origin two steps back, even though nothing about the modern compound involves glands. The suffix does most of the chemical work. "-ate" entered English through Latin "-atus," where it marked a past participle, and chemists later used it to name salts and esters of acids, so that "sulfate" is the salt or ester of "sulfuric acid" and "adenylate" follows the same pattern for adenylic acid. The word therefore describes a family of compounds rather than a single substance: any salt or ester formed from adenylic acid, whether with a metal ion or an organic group.