autoinhibited
|au-to-in-hib-it-ed|
🇺🇸
/ˌɔː.toʊ.ɪnˈhɪbɪtɪd/
🇬🇧
/ˌɔː.təʊ.ɪnˈhɪbɪtɪd/
(autoinhibit)
self-held back
Etymology
'autoinhibited' originates from Greek and Latin elements: specifically Greek 'autos' meaning 'self' and Latin 'inhibēre' meaning 'to hold back' (the modern English element 'inhibit' comes from this Latin source).
'inhibit' entered English via Latin 'inhibēre' (to hold back) and Middle English adaptations and became the modern verb 'inhibit'; 'autoinhibited' is a modern English compound formed by attaching the Greek-derived prefix 'auto-' to the past-participial/adjectival form 'inhibited'.
Initially the components meant 'self' + 'to hold back'; over time the compound came to mean 'held back by itself' or 'suppressed by an internal/self-contained mechanism', especially in technical biological usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Verb 1
past tense or past participle form of 'autoinhibit'.
The protein was autoinhibited under basal conditions.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Adjective 1
subject to inhibition by an internal part or self-regulatory mechanism; (often in molecular biology) having activity suppressed by an intrinsic domain or segment until a change (e.g., modification or binding) releases it.
The enzyme remains autoinhibited until a regulatory protein binds.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/11/26 05:56