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''endorphin'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260915190735-00-⌔

endorphin - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

endorphin (plural endorphins)

  • (biochemistry) Any of a group of peptide hormones found in the mammalian brain that act as neurotransmitters and have properties similar to morphine.
    • ✤ The explanation for the depression-reducing effects of exercise that clearly has been the most popular with the media is the endorphin hypothesis (see Hoffmann, 1997), which has also been discussed as a possible explanation in nearly every exercise-depression literature review.1

Etymology

Borrowed from French endorphine, from endo(gène) (“endogenous, produced within”) and morphine.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA: /ɛnˈdɔːfɪn/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (US) IPA: /ɛnˈdɔ(ɹ)fɪn/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)fɪn

Printed 2026-09-15.

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Footnotes

  1. 2019, Curt L. Lox, Kathleen A. Martin Ginis, Heather L. Gainforth, Steven J. Petruzzello, The Psychology of Exercise: Integrating Theory and Practice, Routledge, →ISBN: ↩