adenosine triphosphatase; an enzyme that converts ATP to ADP
ATPase in American English
(ˈeiˈtiˈpieis, -eiz)
noun
Biochemistry
adenosine triphosphatase: any of several enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP to ADP and phosphate
Word origin
[1945–50; ATP + -ase]This word is first recorded in the period 1945–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: beeper, on-line, regression analysis, shootout, taxi squad-ase is a suffix used in the names of enzymes. Other words that use the affix -ase include: hyaluronidase, invertase, lipase, oxidase, reverse transcriptase