Standard Lemma guide

epinephrine

noun · 2 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.

  • /ˌɛp.ɪˈnɛ.fɹɪn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EH2 P IH0 N EH1 F R IH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A catecholamine hormone and neurotransmitter; as a hormone, secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress (when it stimulates the autonomic nervous system); as a neurotransmitter, synthesized from norepinephrine. It is also used as a medication.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adrenaline

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a catecholamine secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress (trade name Adrenalin); stimulates autonomic nerve action

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: epinephrin, adrenaline, Adrenalin

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: vasoconstrictor, vasoconstrictive, pressor, hormone, endocrine, internal secretion, neurotransmitter, catecholamine

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h1épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h1epi Proto-Hellenic *epí Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-) Proto-Indo-European *negwhrós Proto-Hellenic *nekwhrós Ancient Greek νεφρός (nephrós) Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ine English epinephrine From Ancient Greek ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + νεφρός (nephrós, “kidney”) + -ine.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: epinefrina — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腎上腺素 /肾上腺素 (shènshàngxiànsù) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Esperanto: adrenalino — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Finnish: epinefriini — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • French: épinéphrine — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • German: Epinephrin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Greek: επινεφρίνη (epinefríni) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Hungarian: epinefrin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Ido: adrenalino — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Indonesian: epinefrin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Italian: epinefrina — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Japanese: エピネフリン (epinefurin) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Korean: 에피네프린 (epinepeurin) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Polish: epinefryna — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Portuguese: epinefrina — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Russian: эпинефри́н (epinefrín) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Russian: адренали́н (adrenalín) — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Spanish: epinefrina — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Swedish: adrenalin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Turkish: adrenalin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Turkish: epinefrin — hormone and neurotransmitter
  • Ukrainian: епінефри́н (epinefrýn) — hormone and neurotransmitter