From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Hormone \Hor"mone\ (h[^o]r"m[=o]n), noun [From Gr. "orma'ein to excite.]
1. (Physiological Chem.) A chemical substance formed in one organ and carried in the circulation to another organ on which it exerts a specific effect on cells at a distance from the producing cells; thus, pituitary hormones produced in the brain may have effects on cells in distant parts of the body.. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
2. (Physiological Chem.) a chemical substance, whether natural or synthetic, that functions like a hormone in a living organism. Thus, synthetic steroid hormones may be more effective than their natural counterparts. [PJC]
3. (Bot.) A substance that controls growth rate or differentiation in plants; also called {phytohormone}. The most well-known are the {auxins} that stimulate growth at the growing tips of plants, and control root formation and the dropping of leaves; and the {gibberellins}, which are used in agriculture to promote plant growth. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the secretion of an endocrine gland that is transmitted by the blood to the tissue on which it has a specific effect [syn: {endocrine}, {internal secretion}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
35 Moby Thesaurus words for "hormone": Allen-Doisy hormone, adjuvant, adrenosterone, androgen, androsterone, autacoid, bile, carminative, chalone, cholecystokinin, chondrotrophic hormone, corticosterone, counterirritant, dehydrocorticosterone, digestive secretion, emmenagogue, endocrine, expectorant, gall, gastric juice, insulin, intestinal juice, maturative, mucus, pancreatic juice, progesterone, prostatic fluid, rheum, salivary secretion, semen, sperm, tears, thyroxin, vasodilator, vitamin
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