Glycogen
/ˈɡlaɪ.kə.dʒən/noun
A branched carbohydrate that stores glucose, chiefly in the liver and muscles of animals.
Did you know?The term was introduced in the 1850s after Claude Bernard showed that the liver could form and release sugar, challenging the belief that animals merely consumed glucose from food.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dl̥k-u-
“Sweet; this reconstructed root is associated with later words for sweetness.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
γλυκύς (glukýs)
“Sweet.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
γλυκός (glukós)
“Sweet; the source of the scientific combining form glyc-/gluc-.”
1857
French
glycogène
“A substance thought to generate sugar; coined in the scientific work of Claude Bernard.”
19th Century
English
glycogen
“The animal starch or stored carbohydrate later identified as a glucose-storage material.”
Modern English
English
glycogen
“A glucose-storage polysaccharide found mainly in the liver and muscles.”
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