Hormesis
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A phenomenon in which an environmental agent or stressor produces a stimulatory or beneficial effect at low doses and an inhibitory or harmful effect at higher doses, corresponding to a biphasic dose-response relationship. countable, uncountable
"So the concept of a permissible, safe, or “threshold” dose gained currency, and this was used to set standards in industries where workers were exposed to radiation, such as uranium mining and nuclear power generation. Some people went even further, arguing for radiation hormesis—that small doses of radiation were actually good for you."
Example
More examples"So the concept of a permissible, safe, or “threshold” dose gained currency, and this was used to set standards in industries where workers were exposed to radiation, such as uranium mining and nuclear power generation. Some people went even further, arguing for radiation hormesis—that small doses of radiation were actually good for you."
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὅρμησις (hórmēsis), from Ancient Greek ὁρμή (hormḗ).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.