endocrine

Term: endocrine

Literally meaning: “affecting within ”

Origin: Anc Greek

ενδο-/endo-(= compining form for “inside”, “internal”, “within”)

+εκκρίνω/ecrino(=to secrete)>εκ/ec>(=prefix meaning “out”, “ from”) + κρίνω/crino(=to judge, to separate)

 Coined/History

Claude Bernard, in 1855 was first who used for the term ‘internal secretion’ in order to describe the release of glucose from liver glycogen.  Ernest Starling (1866–1927) who coined the term “hormone” defined also the term of “endocrine” to contrast the actions of hormones secreted internally (endocrine) with those secreted externally (exocrine) or into a lumen, such as the gastrointestinal tract.

Definition

Endocrine is the  type of signaling in which a  hormone secreted  by a cell into the blood and carried by blood and tissue fluids to the cells they act upon.