Insulin
/ˈɪn.sə.lɪn/noun
A hormone produced by the pancreas that enables cells to absorb glucose from the blood.
Did you know?The pancreatic cell clusters that produce insulin are called the islets of Langerhans, from German Inseln meaning “islands.”
Etymological Timeline
Classical Latin
Latin
insula
“Island”
19th Century
German
Inseln der Langerhansschen
“The islands of Langerhans, referring to clusters of pancreatic cells”
1916
English
insuline
“A proposed name for the pancreas’s internal secretion, formed from Latin insula”
1921
English
insulin
“The name adopted for the pancreatic hormone isolated and investigated by Banting, Best, and colleagues”
1922
English
insulin
“The hormone first used clinically to treat diabetes”
Modern English
English
insulin
“A hormone that regulates blood glucose by promoting its uptake into cells”