Standard Lemma guide

hormesis

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A phenomenon in which an environmental agent or stressor produces a stimulatory or beneficial effect at low doses and an inhibitory or harmful effect at higher doses, corresponding to a biphasic dose-response relationship.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences, toxicology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὅρμησις (hórmēsis), from Ancient Greek ὁρμή (hormḗ).