Ancient Greek Origins of the Term
The word hormone has its roots in Ancient Greek, deriving from terms related to motion and impulse. Key Greek words and forms include:
- ὁρμᾶν (hormân) – an Ancient Greek verb meaning “to impel, urge on, or set in motion” . (This is often given in its first person form ὁρμάω, hormáō, “I set in motion”.)
- ὁρμή (hormḗ) – a noun meaning “onset, impulse, or sudden urge” . In context, hormē could refer to a motivating force or vital impulse. Notably, the physician Hippocrates used the term hormē to denote a “vital principle” or driving force in the body . This indicates that even in classical times the root carried a sense of animating energy or impetus in living beings.
- ὁρμῶν (hormōn) – the masculine present participle of hormân, meaning “that which sets in motion” . Literally, hormōn is “setting in motion” or “stimulating.” It functions as an adjective or noun describing an agent that causes movement or excitement. This form — hormon in its Latinized spelling — is the immediate linguistic ancestor of the English word hormone .
From an etymological perspective, these Greek roots convey the idea of provoking activity. Indeed, the Proto-Indo-European root is reconstructed as er- (“to move, set in motion”), highlighting the ancient notion of inducing action . In sum, in its Greek origin the term had a very general meaning related to stimulus or impetus, whether applied to physical motion or metaphorical “vital forces.”
Coining of “Hormone” in Modern Science (1905)
The leap from an ancient word to its modern scientific sense occurred in the early 20th century. The term “hormone” was coined in 1905 by English physiologist Ernest Henry Starling . Starling introduced this word in a landmark series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians (the Croonian Lectures of June 1905) which were later published in The Lancet under the title “The Chemical Correlation of the Functions of the Body” .
Starling and his brother-in-law William Bayliss had been investigating how organs communicate chemically. In 1902 they discovered secretin, a substance from the intestine that stimulates the pancreas – the first clear example of what we now call a hormone. Lacking a concise term for such “chemical messengers,” Starling sought a word that captured the concept of a substance that “sets in motion” activity in a distant organ . He drew directly from the Greek root: in the very first lecture of the series, Starling proposed the term explicitly, saying:
“These chemical messengers, however, or hormones (from ὁρμάω, I excite or arouse) as we might call them, have to be carried from the organ where they are produced to the organ which they affect by means of the blood stream…” .
In coining hormone, Starling thus emphasized the activating role of these substances – true to the Greek meaning of hormân (“to set in motion”). The choice of the word was quite deliberate. According to a later account by biochemist Joseph Needham, the term arose during a dinner at Cambridge. Starling and the eminent biologist Sir William Bate Hardy agreed a new word was needed for an “agent released into the bloodstream that stimulated activity in a different part of the body.” They consulted their colleague W. T. Vesey, a classics scholar, who suggested the Greek verb hormáō (“to excite” or “arouse”) as a basis. Starling noted the suggestion – and, in Needham’s words, “the deed was done” . Thus, while Starling is credited with the coinage, it was very much inspired by the classical Greek term recommended by his peers .
Importantly, Starling’s 1905 usage of hormone was the first time the word appeared in the English language in this context . The Oxford English Dictionary cites Starling’s 1905 lecture as the earliest evidence of the word . In essence, Starling repurposed an ancient word to name a modern discovery. Within a few years, hormone entered the general scientific lexicon to describe internal secretions that act as “chemical messengers” in the body .
Evolution of Meaning and Scientific Usage
When Starling coined hormone, he defined it in quite broad terms. He described hormones as “chemical messengers which, speeding from cell to cell along the blood stream, may coordinate the activities and growth of different parts of the body” . He further generalized that a hormone could be “a drug-like body of definite chemical composition” produced by any kind of tissue, whether a gland with no duct or even nervous or reproductive tissue . In other words, Starling envisioned hormones as any substance made in one part of the body and carried via blood to stimulate another part. This broad view anticipated the wide variety of hormones later discovered (from glandular hormones like adrenaline to tissue hormones like secretin).
However, in the early 20th century not everyone immediately embraced such a wide definition. Some physiological “purists” argued for a narrower definition of hormone, restricting it only to secretions from the well-known endocrine glands (like the thyroid or adrenals) . In fact, around 1905 the renowned physiologist Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer even proposed an alternate term “autacoid” (from Greek autos = self, akos = remedy) to refer to internal secretions with specific effects . Despite such proposals, Starling’s term hormone quickly gained favor and entered common usage in physiology. Over the next few decades, as more of these regulatory substances were identified (e.g. insulin in 1921, estrogen in the 1920s, etc.), the concept of hormone solidified to include any organic compound produced in the body that regulates physiology elsewhere. The core meaning – a trigger or stimulator of biological activity – remained consistent, true to the word’s etymology.
As scientific knowledge expanded, so did the usage of the word hormone. Some notable developments in its application:
- Broad Biological Use: Initially hormone described animal physiological regulators, but it was soon applied to plants as well. By the 1920s-1930s, botanists spoke of “plant hormones” (or phytohormones) to describe chemicals like auxins that stimulate plant growth, even though plants have no bloodstream. The term’s essence – an organic chemical that sets processes in motion in an organism – proved applicable beyond its original animal context.
- Derivatives and New Coinages: The success of hormone spawned related terms. The adjective hormonal (pertaining to hormones) appears by 1926 . Decades later, in 1959, scientists coined “pheromone” to name chemical signals between organisms – literally “to carry excitation” (from Greek pherein, to carry, and the -mone from hormone) . This new word directly built on hormone’s root, showing how entrenched the concept had become.
- Modern Definitions: Over time, definitions of hormone have been refined. Today, authoritative sources define a hormone as “any of numerous organic compounds secreted into body fluids by specific cells, which regulate the activity of other cells”, and they even include synthetic analogues that mimic natural hormones . In simpler terms, a hormone is understood as a signaling molecule coordinating physiology. The inclusion of synthetic substances in the definition reflects how the word’s usage expanded with biochemical advances – we now talk about drugs having “hormone-like” effects, birth control hormones, etc.
Despite these evolutions, the fundamental meaning of “hormone” has remained anchored to its etymological roots. It still denotes something that “sets in motion” biological activity. One subtle shift is that where Hippocrates’ hormē implied a general vital force, the modern hormone refers to a tangible chemical substance with a specific regulatory role. In the century since Starling named it, the term has grown from a novel coinage to a common concept not only in scientific vocabulary but even in everyday language (e.g. “adrenaline is a hormone,” “teenage hormones”).
Historical and Linguistic Context
In historical context, the coining of hormone in 1905 is often seen as a key moment in the birth of endocrinology (the study of hormones and glandular secretions). In fact, the word gave identity to a whole field of research. Prior to this, scientists spoke generally of “internal secretions” but lacked a unifying term. Starling’s introduction of hormone provided a concise concept that helped researchers communicate and hypothesize about the body’s chemical regulators . This came at a time when physiologists were uncovering many such regulatory substances and needed language to describe a new paradigm of chemical coordination (as distinct from nervous system control). The early 20th-century debates – such as how broad the definition should be – highlight how scientists were feeling their way around this new concept. Ultimately, the broad view prevailed, and the term hormone has proven robust, adapting to new discoveries (from peptide hormones to steroid hormones, etc.) without losing its core meaning.
Linguistically, hormone is a noteworthy example of an ancient word revived in modern times with a more specialized meaning. It also illustrates how scientific terminology often reaches into Greek or Latin for inspiration. In this case, a Greek participle hormōn (“impelling”) became an English noun hormone, imbuing the technical term with a sense of “that which impels to action.” The ancient root even found parallel uses in psychology – for instance, in 1915 the psychologist Carl Jung used the term hormé (adapted from Greek hormē) to describe a hypothetical mental energy or drive . While Jung’s usage was independent, it underscores the versatile metaphor of the Greek root for drive/impulse.
In summary, the term hormone has traveled from antiquity to modern science: from Hippocrates’ notion of vital impulsion, to Starling’s chemical messenger igniting physiological activity, to the expansive hormone concept of today. Its etymology – “to set in motion” – is beautifully reflected in its scientific application, as hormones are quite literally the molecules that set the body’s processes into motion. The coinage by Starling in 1905 was a pivotal moment that gave this ancient word new life, forever linking classical language with cutting-edge biology .
Sources:
- Etymology and Greek meanings of hormone: Etymonline
- Starling’s coinage and definition in 1905: Starling, Croonian Lectures (via Hektoen Int.) ; Hillier (J. Endocrinol. 2005) ; Hadden (J. R. Soc. Med. 2005)
- Anecdote of term’s origin (Hardy & Vesey): Needham (1936), recounted in Hektoen Int. and R. Soc. Med. (2005)
- Evolution of usage and definition: Hadden 2005 ; Etymonline (Jung’s hormé) ; Etymonline (pheromone derivation) .