Endorphin
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of a group of peptide hormones found in the mammalian brain that act as neurotransmitters and have properties similar to morphine.
"The explanation for the depression-reducing effects of exercise that clearly has been the most popular with the media is the endorphin hypothesis (see Hoffmann, 1997), which has also been discussed as a possible explanation in nearly every exercise-depression literature review."
- 2 a neurochemical occurring naturally in the brain and having analgesic properties wordnet
Example
More examples"The explanation for the depression-reducing effects of exercise that clearly has been the most popular with the media is the endorphin hypothesis (see Hoffmann, 1997), which has also been discussed as a possible explanation in nearly every exercise-depression literature review."
Etymology
Borrowed from French endorphine, from endo(gène) (“endogenous, produced within”) and morphine.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.