endocrinology

noun

en·​do·​cri·​nol·​o·​gy ˌen-də-kri-ˈnä-lə-jē 

-ˌkrī-

: a branch of medicine concerned with the structure, function, and disorders of the endocrine glands

endocrinologist

ˌen-də-kri-ˈnä-lə-jist 

-ˌkrī-

noun

Examples of endocrinology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This ranking spotlights the leading American hospitals in specialized medical fields including cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, oncology, orthopedics and pulmonology. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 25 Feb. 2025

Having an insulin pump shut down can cause serious complications for diabetes patients, Anupam Ohri, MD, associate professor in the division of endocrinology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, told Verywell. —Korin Miller, Verywell Health, 15 May 2024

The Commission included 56 experts with expertise in nutrition, endocrinology, internal medicine and public health. —Allison Aubrey, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025

The company is advancing its pipeline with the goal of addressing unmet medical needs in endocrinology, neurology, and rheumatology. —Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from Italian endocrinologia, from endocrine endocrine entry 1 + -o- -o- + -logia -logy

Note: According to some sources coined by the Italian physician Nicola Pende (1880-1970) in 1909 (e.g., in Garabed Eknoyan, "Emergence of the concept of endocrine function and endocrinology," Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, vol. 11, no. 4 [October, 2004], p. 375), though without bibliographic citation. Pende used the word in the title of his treatise Endocrinologia: patologia e clinica degli organi a secrezione interna (Milan and Bologna, 1916).

First Known Use

circa 1913, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for endocrinology

• bacteriology
• biotechnology
• dialectology
• ecclesiology
• epistemology
• geochronology
• geomorphology
• histopathology
• hydrogeology
• kinesiology
• meteorology
• microbiology

Medical Definition

endocrinology

noun

en·​do·​cri·​nol·​o·​gy ˌen-də-kri-ˈnäl-ə-jē, -ˌkrī- 

plural endocrinologies

: a science dealing with the endocrine glands

endocrinologist

-jəst 

noun