Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The phase of metabolism in which simple substances are synthesized into the complex materials of living tissue.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Assimilation; antegrade metamorphosis; constructive metabolism, or ascending metabolic processes by which a substance is transformed into another which is more complex or more highly organized and more energetic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Physiol.) The constructive metabolism of the body, as distinguished from catabolism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The constructive metabolism of the body, as distinguished from catabolism.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the synthesis in living organisms of more complex substances (e.g., living tissue) from simpler ones together with the storage of energy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[ana– + (meta)bolism.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀνά (ana, "up") + βάλλω (ballō, "I throw") + -ism. Formed in analogy with metabolism.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word anabolism.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.