hormone

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: hor=mone

CIDE DICTIONARY

hormone, n. [From Gr. "orma`ein to excite.].

•  A chemical substance formed in one organ and carried in the circulation to another organ on which it exerts a specific effect on cells at a distance from the producing cells; thus, pituitary hormones produced in the brain may have effects on cells in distant parts of the body..  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  a chemical substance, whether natural or synthetic, that functions like a hormone in a living organism. Thus, synthetic steroid hormones may be more effective than their natural counterparts.  [PJC]
•  A substance that controls growth rate or differentiation in plants; also called phytohormone. The most well-known are the auxins that stimulate growth at the growing tips of plants, and control root formation and the dropping of leaves; and the gibberellins, which are used in agriculture to promote plant growth.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

hormone, n.
1 Biochem. a regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in tissue fluids such as blood or sap to stimulate cells or tissues into action.
2 a synthetic substance with a similar effect.

Derivative

hormonal adj.

Etymology

Gk hormon part. of hormao impel

THESAURUS

hormone

Allen-Doisy hormone, adjuvant, adrenosterone, androgen, androsterone, autacoid, bile, carminative, chalone, cholecystokinin, chondrotrophic hormone, corticosterone, counterirritant, dehydrocorticosterone, digestive secretion, emmenagogue, endocrine, expectorant, gall, gastric juice, insulin, intestinal juice, maturative, mucus, pancreatic juice, progesterone, prostatic fluid, rheum, salivary secretion, semen, sperm, tears, thyroxin, vasodilator, vitamin