Hormone
//ˈhɔːməʊn// noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any substance produced by one tissue and conveyed by the bloodstream to another to effect physiological activity.
"Interfemale dominance may be facilitated by female sex hormones as well as adrenal testosterone..."
- 2 the secretion of an endocrine gland that is transmitted by the blood to the tissue on which it has a specific effect wordnet
- 3 A synthetic compound with the same activity.
"Tumours of the adrenal cortex which secreted feminizing hormones […]"
- 4 A synthetic compound with the same activity.; Sex hormones, as used in hormone replacement therapy for transgender or intersex people. colloquial, plural-normally
"I'm going to be going to slightly higher doses of hormones soon."
- 5 Any similar substance in plants.
Verb
- 1 To treat with hormones. colloquial, transitive
Example
More examples"Female hormone imbalance is a major cause of infertility."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁρμῶν (hormôn), present participle of ὁρμάω (hormáō, “to set in motion, to urge on”), from ὁρμή (hormḗ, “rapid motion forwards, onrush, onset, assault, impulse to do a thing, effort”).
Related phrases
More for "hormone"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.