Dopamine

How to spell dopamine

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce dopamine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dopamine mean?

1. nounA chemical in the brain that carries signals between nerve cells and is linked to reward, motivation and movement.

Dopamine in a sentence

• The article explained how dopamine affects motivation and focus.

• Certain drugs work by raising the level of dopamine in the brain.

Where does dopamine come from?

Language of origin: Other

Dopamine is a twentieth-century scientific coinage rather than an ancient word, and its spelling reflects exactly that. It is built from DOPA, a chemist's abbreviation of the long compound name dihydroxyphenylalanine, joined to amine, the chemical term for a nitrogen-bearing compound that derives ultimately from ammonia (itself named after sal ammoniac, a salt once gathered near a temple of the Egyptian god Ammon). The 'dopa' element entered laboratory English in the early 1900s, while dopamine itself was named in the 1950s when researchers identified it as a substance in the brain rather than merely a chemical step toward adrenaline. It went on to become famous as a neurotransmitter tied to reward, motivation and movement, which is why it now turns up far beyond chemistry textbooks. For spelling, the helpful clue is that it is literally dopa plus amine, so the middle keeps a single 'p' and the ending is '-mine', not '-min' or '-meen'.

How the word is built

• dopa- (from DOPA, short for dihydroxyphenylalanine)
• -amine (an organic compound derived from ammonia)