autolysis
/əˈtɑ.ləˌsɪs/noun
autolysis is spelled A-U-T-O-L-Y-S-I-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 182,517th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, autolysis means “The destruction of an organism's cells by enzymes produced by the organism itself” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in autolysis?
| Letters | 9: A-U-T-O-L-Y-S-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 35 million words; the 182,517th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is autolysis?
Autolysis appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 182,517th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce autolysis?
- US /əˈtɑ.ləˌsɪs/
Autolysis has 4 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with autolysis?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as autolysis from its last stressed vowel (/ɑləsɪs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does autolysis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The destruction of an organism's cells by enzymes produced by the organism itself.
- 2
The autodigestion of the tissues of an organism.
- 3
The autocytolysis of blood cells.
- 4
The decomposition of dead yeast cells in wine after fermentation.
- 5
A two-stage mixing process where water and flour are combined first before adding leavening and salt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Autolysis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cytology: the destruction of an organism's cells by enzymes:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does autolysis come from?
From auto- (“self”) + -lysis (“breakdown”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).