Definition of ENDOCRINE

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The body's glands remove specific substances from the blood and alter them for rerelease into the blood or removal. Glands such as those that produce saliva and sweat secrete their products through tiny ducts or tubes on or near the body's surface. The glands without ducts, called the endocrine glands, instead secrete their products into the bloodstream; the endo- root indicates that the secretions are internal rather than on the surface. The endocrine system includes such glands as the pituitary (which controls growth, regulates the other endocrines, and performs many other tasks), the thyroid (another growth gland that also influences metabolism), the adrenals (which secrete adrenaline and steroids), the hypothalamus (which influences sleep and weight regulation), and the ovaries (which produce eggs). Endocrine problems are treated by endocrinologists.

Examples of endocrine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

According to the National Institutes of Health, these chemicals are believed to be endocrine disruptors, able to interfere with the body's hormonal system. — Nadia Kounang, CNN, "What chemicals are in your mac and cheese?," 15 July 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This shouldn’t be surprising, given the ingredients in hair products, including formaldehyde (known carcinogen), toluene (neurological and developmental toxicant), sodium hydroxide (lye), and triphenyl phosphate (suspected endocrine disruptor). — Longreads, "True Roots," 5 June 2019 That’s likely because soy’s isoflavones help neutralize the BPA’s endocrine-disrupting effects, researchers say. — Marygrace Taylor, Good Housekeeping, "Is Soy Good or Bad for You? Here's the Science-Backed Answer," 18 July 2018 It can be caused by endocrine issues (cortisol is the usual hormonal culprit there), physical problems, mental problems, and even temperature. — Cheryl Wischhover, Vox, "Adaptogenic dusts, oils, and pills have a veneer of science, but there’s not much evidence to back them up.," 2 Nov. 2018 In your digestive tract, those invisible ecosystems play important roles not only in digestion but also in the immune system and the endocrine system, influencing the hormones that help regulate bodily functions. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Mammals inherit most of their gut bacteria, new study suggests," 26 Oct. 2018 There is also some question as to whether certain chemical sunscreens disrupt the endocrine system, says Kimberly Morel, pediatric dermatologist at the Columbia University Medical Center. — Lindsey M. Roberts, The Seattle Times, "The best sunscreens for your skin — and the earth, too," 24 Aug. 2018 Tiny Doses, Big Problems One type of chemical doesn't have to mix with anything to be risky: a compound known as an endocrine disruptor, which knocks your body's hormones out of whack. — Rachael Moeller Gorman, Good Housekeeping, "Is Your Tap Water Safe?," 15 Aug. 2012 In the endocrine group, 83.3 percent were free of invasive disease, compared with 84.3 percent who got both treatments. — Denise Grady, New York Times, "Good News for Women With Breast Cancer: Many Don’t Need Chemo," 3 June 2018 Gawande is a professor at Harvard Medical School and a practicing endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. — James Rufus Koren, latimes.com, "Amazon, JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway pick CEO for joint healthcare venture," 20 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'endocrine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for endocrine

Adjective

borrowed from French, from endo- endo- + -crine, as in olocrine, holocrine holocrine and mérocrine merocrine

Note: Word introduced by the French histologist Édouard Laguesse (1861-1927) in "Sur la formation des îlots de Langerhans dans le pancréas," Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances et mémoires de la Société de Biologie, 45. tome (1893), p. 820. The conclusions summarized in this report were treated in more detail in the author's "Recherches sur l'histogénie du pancréas chez le mouton," carried over two numbers of the Journal de l'anatomie et de la physiologie, vols. 31-32 (1895-96). In vol. 32, p. 245, Laguesse remarks on the word, now used in the collocation îlots endocrines, referring to the islets of Langerhans: "C'est en 1893 (29 juillet), dans une communication préliminaire faite à la Société de Biologie, que j'ais pour la première fois prononcé ce mot et émis cet hypothèse, mais avec une grande réserve…" ("It was in 1893 (July 29), in a preliminary communication made to the Société de Biologie, that I uttered this word and put forward this hypothesis for the first time, though with great reserve…"). In an undated manuscript note Laguesse commented on the introduction of the word: "Dès ma première communication sur les îlots pancréatiques en 1893, j'avais été gêné d'avoir toujours à répéter ce qualificatif 'à sécrétion interne' et j'étais frappé de la bonne allure et de la simplicité des termes holocrine et mérocrine créés par Ranvier. A son exemple je forgeai le vocable endocrine, de ενδον en dedans, κρινω je sépare, je sécrète. Il devait répondre à une véritable nécessité, si nous en jugeon[s] d'après son succès." ("From the time of my first communication on the pancreatic islets in 1893, I was bothered by the need to always repeat the qualification 'by internal secretion,' and I was struck by the attractiveness and simplicity of the terms holocrine and merocrine created by Ranvier. After his example I coined the word endocrine, de endon 'inside' and krinō 'I separate, I secrete.' It must have responded to a real need, to judge by its success.") (See reproduction of the note in Pierre Fossati, "Edouard Laguesse à Lille en 1893 crée le terme 'endocrine' et ouvre l'ère de l'endocrinologie," Histoire des sciences médicales, tome 38 [2004], pp. 433-40.)

Noun