Understanding the Endocrine System
DEFINING ENDOCRINE
The key that unlocks understanding the human endocrine system is to dispel the mystery about what the word “endocrine” means. The prefix “ENDO-” stems from the Greek “endon,” meaning “within,” which itself has deeper roots in “EN-,” meaning “in,” and the Latin “domus,” meaning “house.” Thus, one could say ENDO- means “within the house,” or “inner.”
“-Crine” is derived from the German “krinein,” meaning “to separate;” also from the Latin “cernere” meaning the same thing. This sense of separation, however, is the notion of discerning a moment that portends a good or a bad outcome. (For example, when a fever breaks, and its victim either will recover or get worse. From that discernment, correctly termed a “crisis,” “-crine” takes its roots.)
Thus, endocrine gathers these separate notions into one term meaning “inner separation of functions and effects (discerned by body glands).”
Defining Endocrine
| 
