1 holocrine | Definition of holocrine
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holocrine

adjective
ho·​lo·​crine | \ ˈhō-lə-krən How to pronounce holocrine (audio) , -ˌkrīn, -ˌkrēn, ˈhä-\

Definition of holocrine

: producing or being a secretion resulting from lysis of secretory cells holocrine sebaceous glands

First Known Use of holocrine

circa 1905, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for holocrine

borrowed from French olocrine (later holocrine), from olo- holo- + -crine, from the stem of Greek krī́nein "to separate, choose, decide" — more at certain entry 1

Note: The word was introduced, along with mérocrine merocrine, by the French physician and histologist Louis-Antoine Ranvier (1835-1922) in "Le mécanisme de la sécrétion," Journal de micrographie, tome 11 (1887), p. 9. Ranvier does not proffer an etymology, but presumably he takes krī́nein to mean "secrete" or "excrete," though this meaning is only attested in classical Greek for the prefixed form ekkrī́nein, with a nominal derivative ékkrisis "secretion."

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More Definitions for holocrine

holocrine

adjective
ho·​lo·​crine | \ ˈhō-lə-krən How to pronounce holocrine (audio) , -ˌkrīn How to pronounce holocrine (audio) , -ˌkrēn How to pronounce holocrine (audio) , ˈhäl-ə-\

Medical Definition of holocrine

: producing or being a secretion resulting from lysis of secretory cells holocrine glands holocrine secretions holocrine activity — compare apocrine, eccrine, merocrine

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