Pepsins

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɛpsɪnz/

Definitions

1. A group of digestive enzymes that break down proteins into smaller peptides within the stomach
2. Enzymatic substances found in gastric juice that facilitate the digestion of dietary proteins
3. Biological catalysts involved in protein hydrolysis, contributing to the digestive process in various animals

Etymology: Pepsin is a digestive enzyme, and its name was built from a Greek word for digestion. The Greek "pepsis" meant "digestion" or "cooking," and it came from the verb "peptein," to cook or ripen. German scientists added the chemical suffix "-in" to coin "Pepsin" for the protein they isolated, and English took the term from German. The suffix "-in" is the standard ending chemists attached to substances extracted from living things, so the name follows the same pattern as "pepsin" in a family of protein and sugar names. The Greek root was ancient, but the word itself is a modern scientific coinage, not something ancient physicians ever used for the stomach juice. The plural "pepsins" is simply the form used when referring to more than one kind of this enzyme, since the stomach produces several related forms of it.