Hormonal

How to spell hormonal

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce hormonal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hormonal mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to, caused by, or consisting of hormones, the chemical signals that regulate the body.

Hormonal in a sentence

• The clinic ran tests to check for a hormonal imbalance.

• Doctors linked her sudden fatigue to hormonal changes during pregnancy.

Where does hormonal come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word grows out of 'hormone', which was coined in 1905 by the English physiologist Ernest Starling for the chemical messengers that the body releases into the bloodstream to regulate organs at a distance. He took it from the Greek hormon, the present participle of the verb horman, meaning 'to set in motion' or 'to urge on', because these substances drive the body's processes into action. The adjective 'hormonal' was then formed by adding the familiar Latin-derived ending '-al', which turns a noun into a describing word, much as 'season' gives 'seasonal'. The Greek root carried a sense of impulse and stimulation, which fits neatly with how hormones spur growth, mood, and metabolism. The spelling is reassuringly phonetic, with the single 'm' and single 'n' tripping up only the occasional writer who expects a doubled consonant.

How the word is built

• hormon- (from Greek hormon, 'setting in motion')
• -al (adjective suffix)