prion

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹiːɒn/

The English word “prion” has 2 meanings listed here.

noun

A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue.
A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena.

Etymology

From (a reordering of) the initial letters of proteinaceous infectious particle. Coined by American neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner in 1982.

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More English words

Prinzmetal's angina
prinzregententorte
prio queue
priodontine
prion disease
prion protein
prionaemia
prionic

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.