Dictionary

biopolymer en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-der. Ancient Greek βῐ́ος (bĭ́os) Ancient Greek βῐο- (bĭo-)der. English bio- Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *(s)méros Proto-Hellenic *(h)méros Ancient Greek μέρος (méros)lbor. English -mer English polymer English biopolymer From bio- + polymer.

Meanings

1. Any macromolecule of a living organism that is formed from the polymerization of smaller entities; a polymer that occurs in a living organism or results from life.
   • Products based on durable biopolymers have begun appearing in the marketplace. 2007 March 21, Susan Moran, “The new bioplastics, more than just forks”, in The New York Times:
   • There are three main classes of biopolymers: polynucleotides (such as RNA and DNA), polypeptides (such as collagen and actin), and polysaccharides (such as cellulose and starch).
   • CJ Biomaterials was the first company in the world to produce amorphous PHA, it says, which is a softer, rubberier version of PHA that offers fundamentally different performance characteristics than crystalline or semi-crystalline forms of the biopolymer. 2023 June 29, Mike Edwards, “Collaboration leads to eco-friendly straw made with polyhydroxyalkanoate”, in CPECN:

Forms

Coordinates

biometal

Deriveds

nanobiopolymer

Hypernyms

polymer · compound · biomolecule · molecule · macromolecule

Relateds

oligomer · multimer

Translations (5)

fr biopolymère (polymer that occurs in a living organism) · pl biopolimer (polymer that occurs in a living organism) · el βιοπολυμερές (polymer that occurs in a living organism) · cmn 生物聚合物 (polymer that occurs in a living organism) · fi biopolymeeri (polymer that occurs in a living organism)