Word.ws English Dictionary

lysozyme

/ˈlaɪsəzaɪm/

lysozyme noun: a bacteriolytic (or antibiotic) enzyme found in many animal secretions, and in egg white.

Noun

lysozyme (plural lysozymes)

  1. A bacteriolytic (or antibiotic) enzyme found in many animal secretions, and in egg white.
    • [Alexander Fleming] had in 1923 discovered lysozyme, an antimicrobial enzyme found in saliva, mucus and tears as part of the body’s first line of defence against invading pathogens.2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), pages 47–48
    Synonyms:
    E1105 when used as a preservative

Synonyms of lysozyme

  • E1105 when used as a preservative

Forms of lysozyme

plurallysozymes

Origin of lysozyme

From lyso- + enzyme.

Words formed from lysozyme

Questions about lysozyme

What does lysozyme mean?
Lysozyme means a bacteriolytic (or antibiotic) enzyme found in many animal secretions, and in egg white.
What part of speech is lysozyme?
Lysozyme is a noun.
How do you pronounce lysozyme?
Lysozyme is pronounced /ˈlaɪsəzaɪm/.
What is the plural of lysozyme?
The plural of lysozyme is lysozymes.

Words near lysozyme in the dictionary

  1. lysotropic
  2. lysotype
  3. lysotypes
  4. lysozomotropic
  5. lysozymal
  6. lysozyme
  7. lysozymes
  8. Lyss
  9. lyssa
  10. lyssaviral
  11. lyssavirus

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lysozyme (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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