Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pepsin"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pepsin \Pep"sin\, n. [Gr. ? a cooking, digesting, digestion, fr.
?, ?, to cook, digest: cf. F. pepsine. Cf. {Dyspepsia}.]
(Physiol. Chem.)
An unorganized proteolytic ferment or enzyme contained in the
secretory glands of the stomach. In the gastric juice it is
united with dilute hydrochloric acid (0.2 per cent,
approximately) and the two together constitute the active
portion of the digestive fluid. It is the active agent in the
gastric juice of all animals.
Note: As prepared from the glandular layer of pigs' or
calves' stomachs it constitutes an important article of
pharmacy.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pepsin
n : an enzyme produced in the stomach that splits proteins into
peptones
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