trypsin

Note: The term Trypsin was introduced by the German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne (1837-1900) in "Ueber das Trypsin (Enzym des Pankreas)," Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen-Medicinischen Vereins zu Heidelberg, Neue Folge, 1. Band (1877), pp. 194-98. In this article Kühne says nothing about the origin of the word. In a preceding article (pp. 190-93), taken from Kühne's presentation to a session of the Verein ("Ueber das Verhalten verschiedener organisirter un sog. ungeformter Fermente," "Sitzung am 4. Februar 1876"), the following is stated: "Genauer untersucht wurde besonders das Eiweiss verdauende Enzym des Pankreas, für welches, da es zugleich Spaltung der Albuminkörper veranlasst, der Name Trypsin gewählt wurde." ("In particular the pancreatic enzyme that digests albumin was more closely investigated, for which the name trypsin was chosen, as it accomplishes at the same time cleaving of the albuminous bodies.") Though the base tryps- appears to be a nominal derivative of a Greek verb, no verb is known with an appropriate meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests trîpsis "rubbing, wearing down," allegedly because the enzyme is produced by rubbing the pancreas with glycerin, but nothing in Kühne's article supports this, and y for expected i is unexplained. (In Kühne's procedure the fresh pancreas is initially crushed with alcohol and glass powder.)