apocrine
|a-po-crine|
🇺🇸
/ˈeɪpəˌkraɪn/
🇬🇧
/əˈpɒkrɪn/
secretion by cell-tip pinching off
Etymology
'apocrine' originates from Greek elements: the prefix 'apo-' meaning 'off, away' and the verb 'krinein' meaning 'to separate, to sift, to secrete', combined in New Latin/modern medical formation.
'apocrine' was formed in modern medical/Latinized usage from Greek roots (apo- + krinein) via New Latin/late 19th-century medical terminology and entered English as a technical term for a specific glandular secretion type.
Initially coined to name the specific mode of secretion (literally 'separation away'), the term has retained that technical meaning and is now used as an adjective describing glands or secretions and, less commonly, as a noun referring to such a gland.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
(medical, rare) An apocrine gland; used to refer to a gland that secretes by apocrine secretion.
The biopsy showed a benign apocrine tumor arising from an apocrine gland.
Adjective 1
relating to or denoting a type of glandular secretion in which the apical portion of the secretory cell is pinched off and released (apocrine secretion); used of glands that secrete in this way (e.g., certain sweat glands).
Apocrine glands are concentrated in the armpits and groin and become active at puberty.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/19 09:02