noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A form of amylase found in saliva that breaks down starch into maltose and dextrin. uncountable, usually
2. 2
   an amylase secreted in saliva wordnet

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πτύαλον (ptúalon, “saliva”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.