Standard Lemma guide

cortisol

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɔː.tɪ.sɒl/
  • Southern-England: Berkshire Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈkoɹ.tɪˌsɔl/ without the cot–caught merger
  • General-American: [ˈkoɹ.ɾɪˌsɔl] without the cot–caught merger
  • General-American, cot-caught-merger, dialectal: /ˈkoɹ.tɪˌsɑl/ of Canada
  • General-American, cot-caught-merger, dialectal: [ˈkoɹ.ɾɪˌsɑl] of Canada
  • North Carolina Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˈkoɹ.tɪˌsɒl/ of the US
  • Canada, dialectal: [ˈkoɹ.ɾɪˌsɒl] of the US
  • Australian: /ˈkoː.tɪ.sɔl/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈkoː.tə.sɒl/
  • New-Zealand: [ˈkoː.tə.sɔ̟l]
  • CMU ARPABET: K AO1 R T IH0 S AO2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A glucocorticoid steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex that mediates various metabolic processes (such as gluconeogenesis), has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties, and whose levels in the blood may become elevated in response to physical or psychological stress.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: steroids

Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hydrocortisone

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Stress.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an adrenal-cortex hormone (trade names Hydrocortone or Cortef) that is active in carbohydrate and protein metabolism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hydrocortisone, Hydrocortone, Cortef

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: corticosteroid, corticoid, adrenal cortical steroid

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kort-ek-sder. Latin cortexder. English cortico- Proto-Indo-European *ǵhelh3- Proto-Hellenic *kholā́ Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ) Proto-Indo-European *ster-der. Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós) French cholestérine French cholestérolbor. English cholesterol English sterol German Ketonbor. English ketone English -one English -sterone English corticosterone English cortisone English -ol English cortisol From cortisone + -ol.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cortisol — steroid hormone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 皮質醇 /皮质醇 (pízhìchún) — steroid hormone
  • Czech: kortizol — steroid hormone
  • Finnish: kortisoli — steroid hormone
  • French: cortisol — steroid hormone
  • German: Cortisol — steroid hormone
  • Hungarian: kortizol — steroid hormone
  • Italian: cortisolo — steroid hormone
  • Polish: kortyzol — steroid hormone
  • Portuguese: cortisol — steroid hormone
  • Russian: кортизол (kortizol) — steroid hormone
  • Slovak: kortizol — steroid hormone
  • Spanish: cortisol — steroid hormone
  • Swedish: kortisol — steroid hormone