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adrenaline

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Etymology and origin of the English word adrenaline

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1893 Guy's Hospital Gazette
Ultimate origin
Latin rēn

Pronunciation

  • /əˈdɹɛnəlɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English adrenal + -ine.[2][3][4][5][1] The form adrenalin has the suffix -in.[2] Adrenal (1866) joins Latin ad- (“to, near”) and rēnālis (“of the kidneys”), from rēnēs (“kidneys”),[6][7] the source also of renal.[7] Etymonline and Klein say that the name was coined in 1901 by the Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine, who isolated the substance, as the trademark “Adrenalin”;[6][8] Ayto says that both the discovery and the coining are disputed and may be the work of Takamine or of Dr Norton L. Wilson.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An extract of the adrenal glands of animals: 1893, in the Guy's Hospital Gazette;[2] the OED notes that the extract was then thought to contain a mixture of hormones.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1890,[3] the older OED edition and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to 1901,[9][10] and Dictionary.com to 1900–05.[4]

Semantic evolution

The name soon settled on the single hormone of the adrenal medulla, which American usage calls epinephrine.[11][3] From 1928 adrenaline was also used outside science for excitement or nervous energy, with the hormone seen as its cause,[2] and adrenaline rush was in use by about 1970.[6] Merriam-Webster notes that the word is used both in technical contexts and to describe the racing heart and heightened energy of the body's response to danger or competition.[3]

Timeline

  • 1890 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.[3]
  • 1893 – an extract of the adrenal glands.[2]
  • 1901 – “Adrenalin” named by Takamine, according to Etymonline and Klein.[6][8]
  • 1928 – excitement, nervous energy.[2]
  • c. 1970 – adrenaline rush.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A hormone released by the adrenal glands under stress, which raises the heart rate and blood pressure; epinephrine.[11][3][2]
  2. This substance extracted from animals or made synthetically, used in medicine, for example against asthma.[11][2]
  3. (informal) Excitement or nervous energy: The crowd's roar got the adrenaline flowing.[2][3]

Word family

  • noradrenaline
  • adrenergic
  • adrenal
  • renal
  • epinephrine
  • reins

Usage notes

It is also spelt adrenalin;[11][2] in American English the hormone is usually called epinephrine.[11][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Adrenaline.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/adrenaline. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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