autofermentation
|au-to-fer-men-ta-tion|
🇺🇸
/ˌɔːtoʊfɚmɛnˈteɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/ˌɔːtəʊfəmɛnˈteɪʃən/
self-driven fermentation
Etymology
'autofermentation' originates from Greek 'autos' meaning 'self' and Latin 'fermentare' (via French/Latin influence) meaning 'to leaven, to cause fermentation'.
'ferment' comes from Latin 'fermentum' → Old French 'ferment' → Middle English 'ferment'; the prefix 'auto-' from Greek 'autos' entered English formations via Latin/Greek borrowing. The modern compound 'autofermentation' is a 19th–20th century formation combining these elements to denote self-driven fermentation.
Initially the elements meant 'self' and 'to cause fermentation'; over time they combined into a technical term denoting either spontaneous (wild) fermentation or internally driven cellular fermentation, which is the current usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
spontaneous fermentation that occurs without the deliberate addition of a starter culture, relying on indigenous (wild) microorganisms present on the raw materials or in the environment.
The sauerkraut was produced by autofermentation, relying on the cabbage's native bacteria.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun 2
in a biochemical/cellular context, fermentation processes carried out within cells using internal substrates or pathways (self-contained metabolic fermentation) often when external electron acceptors are absent.
Under anaerobic conditions the bacteria switched to autofermentation to maintain ATP production.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/25 11:30