"enzyme which catalyzes the formation of a polymer," 1866, coined by Berzelius (1830) from polymer + -ase.
Entries linking to polymerase
polymer n.
a substance built from a large number of simple molecules of the same kind, 1855, probably from German Polymere (Berzelius, 1830), from Greek polymeres "having many parts," from polys "many" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill") + meros "part" (from PIE root *(s)mer- (2) "to get a share of something").
-ase
word-forming element used in naming enzymes, from ending of diastase.