Final answer:
Catabolism is the term for the process of breaking large molecules into smaller ones during digestion, involving chemical digestion and specific enzymes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that most precisely describes the general process of breaking down large molecules into smaller ones is catabolism.
This process occurs during digestion, where large, complex food molecules like carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids are broken down into their smaller subunits such as sugars, fatty acids, glycerol, amino acids, nitrogen bases, and sugars.
These smaller units are then absorbed and transported to cells throughout the body. Chemical digestion is a key component of this process, involving hydrolysis reactions that are catalyzed by specific enzymes. For instance, amylases break down carbohydrates and proteases break down proteins.