English
globulin
Globulin comes from Latin globus ‘any round object’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘form into a ball’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-1‘form into a ball’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobus2‘any round object’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobulu2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentglobule2
- English1500–presentglobule2
- Englishearliest quotation 1993globulin2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin globus
- 2 Wiktionary, English globulin
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1993, Teresa L. Wright, Clinical aspects of hepatitis B virus infection: “The most effective approach to delaying and preventing recurrent…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-Wiktionary, Latin globus‘form into a ball’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobusWiktionary, English globulin‘any round object’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEglobuluWiktionary, English globulin
- Frenchc. 1600–presentglobuleWiktionary, English globulin
- English1500–presentglobuleWiktionary, English globulin
- Englishearliest quotation 1993globulinWiktionary, English globulin. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1993, Teresa L. Wright, Clinical aspects of hepatitis B virus infection: “The most effective approach to delaying and preventing recurrent…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘form into a ball’
children, child, cold, clean, cloud, chill, cluster, gel, jelly, colt, clout, clot, gelatin, gelato, clough, glebe, ganglion, klutz, clod, 49 more
through Latin globus ‘any round object’
Today it means
noun Any of a group of simple proteins, soluble in water only in the presence of salts, that are coagulated by heat
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “globulin”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin globus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gel- / globulin