Etymograph

English

glycerolysis

Glycerolysis comes from Ancient Greek λῠ́σῐς ‘loosing, releasing, release, ransoming’, from λύω ‘to loose’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut off, release’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-1‘to cut off, release’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύω1lúō‘to loose’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλῠ́σῐς1lŭ́sĭs‘loosing, releasing, release, ransoming’
  4. Englishtodayglycerolysis1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English glycerolysis

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-Wiktionary, English glycerolysis‘to cut off, release’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύωWiktionary, English glycerolysislúō‘to loose’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλῠ́σῐςWiktionary, English glycerolysislŭ́sĭs‘loosing, releasing, release, ransoming’
  4. EnglishtodayglycerolysisWiktionary, English glycerolysis

A compound of glycerol + -lysis

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut off, release’

so, lose, solution, solve, lease, sol, resolute, insoluble, loess, 29 more

through Ancient Greek λύω ‘to loose’

analysis, analyst, palsy, paralysis, dialysis, paralyze, paralytic, 15 more

Today it means

noun Any reaction of an ester with glycerol, but especially the reaction of triglycerides with glycerol to form monoglycerides and diglycerides

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “glycerolysis”. 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 *lewh₁- / glycerolysis

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