Estrone
/ˈɛstroʊn/noun
A naturally occurring estrogen hormone, the weakest of the three major estrogens.
Did you know?Estrone was named in the 1920s from the same root as *estrus*, ultimately tied to the idea of animal mating heat, so its chemistry carries a surprisingly primal linguistic past.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁est-
“to be, exist”
Ancient Greek
Greek
oistros
“gadfly; maddening sting; frenzy, sexual heat”
Latin
Latin
oestrus
“frenzy; rut, heat in animals”
Early 20th Century
English
estrone
“a named estrogen hormone, coined in hormone chemistry”
Modern English
English
estrone
“a naturally occurring estrogen hormone”