endorphin
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French endorphine, from endo(gène) (“endogenous, produced within”) and morphine.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɛnˈdɔːfɪn/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ɛnˈdɔ(ɹ)fɪn/
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)fɪn
Noun
endorphin (plural endorphins)
- (biochemistry) Any of a group of peptide hormones found in the mammalian brain that act as neurotransmitters and have properties similar to morphine.
- 2019, Curt L. Lox, Kathleen A. Martin Ginis, Heather L. Gainforth, Steven J. Petruzzello, The Psychology of Exercise: Integrating Theory and Practice, Routledge, →ISBN:
- 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.
Derived terms
Translations
any of a group of peptide hormones
|