Etymologically
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estrogen

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈiːstɹəd͡ʒən/[1]
  • US: /ˈɛstɹəd͡ʒən/[1]

Etymology

It was formed in 1927 from English estrus + -o- + -gen (“producing”),[2][3][4][5] so named for the hormone's ability to bring on the heat of female animals.[3][2] Merriam-Webster treats it as an international scientific word,[6] and Cresswell says the name was coined by the pharmaceutical company that patented the hormone.[7] The noun estrus is from Latin oestrus (“frenzy, gadfly”),[8][3] from Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros, “gadfly; sting; frenzy, mad impulse”),[8][3][7] perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eys-, a root that formed words for passion and also gave ire.[3][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A female sex hormone: 1927.[3][2][6][7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1925–30.[4]

Semantic evolution

The name described what the hormone does in animals, bringing on estrus; it was soon applied to the whole group of such hormones and to natural or synthetic substances with the same effect, used to treat menopausal and menstrual disorders and in contraceptives.[5][6] Derivatives such as oestrogenic and oestrogenized followed in the mid 20th century.[5]

Timeline

  • 1927 – a female sex hormone that brings on estrus.[3][2][6][7]
  • mid 20th century – oestrogenic, of the nature of an oestrogen.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Any of a group of steroid hormones, such as estradiol, produced chiefly by the ovaries, that bring on oestrus and control the development of female sexual characteristics and the menstrual cycle.[6][9][5]
  2. A natural or synthetic substance with similar effects, used in medicine and in contraceptives.[6][5]

Word family

  • estrogenic
  • estrogenically
  • antiestrogen
  • antiestrogenic
  • phytoestrogen
  • estrus
  • estrone
  • estradiol
  • -gen

Usage notes

The usual British spelling is oestrogen, the American estrogen.[9][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins