pancreas

[ pan-kree-uhs, pang- ]

noun

, Anatomy, Zoology.

1. a gland, situated near the stomach, that secretes a digestive fluid into the intestine through one or more ducts and also secretes the hormone insulin.

pancreas

/ ˈpæŋkrɪəs; ˌpæŋkrɪˈætɪk /

noun

1. a large elongated glandular organ, situated behind the stomach, that secretes insulin and pancreatic juice

pancreas

/ păng′krē-əs /

1. A long, irregularly shaped gland in vertebrate animals that is located behind the stomach and is part of the digestive system. It secretes hormones (insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin) into the bloodstream and digestive enzymes into the small intestine or gut. The pancreas also secretes sodium bicarbonate, which protects the lining of the intestine by neutralizing acids from the stomach.

pancreas

1. A gland behind the stomach that functions in both the endocrine system and the digestive system . Its endocrine function involves the secretion into the bloodstream of insulin , which regulates the level of sugars in the blood . As part of the digestive system, the pancreas secretes into the small intestine a fluid containing enzymes that is used in the digestion of all foods.

Derived Forms

• pancreatic, adjective

Other Words From

• pan·cre·at·ic [pan-kree-, at, -ik, pang-], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pancreas¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from New Latin, from Greek pánkreas “sweetbread”; pan- + kréas “flesh, meat”

Word History and Origins

Origin of pancreas¹

C16: via New Latin from Greek pankreas, from pan- + kreas flesh

Example Sentences

The word “hormone” entered the medical lexicon in 1905 to describe secretions of the pancreas and was soon used for other chemical messengers produced by any of the body’s glands.

From Washington Post

In this autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, leaving the body unable to make the insulin needed to control blood sugar levels.

From Science News

We wouldn’t think twice about trying to treat that condition if it were treating your pancreas as with diabetes, or your joints as with arthritis.

From Ozy

She did take some programming courses in college, but most of the skills she deployed in making her artificial pancreas were self-taught.

From Freakonomics

It may strike you as strange that the artificial pancreas didn’t already exist.

From Freakonomics

The shot damaged his liver, lungs, pancreas and spleen and has left him paralyzed from the waist down.

From The Daily Beast

The internal injuries cost him his spleen and part of his pancreas, but he could skate without those.

From The Daily Beast

Eventually Jobs did have surgery, but by then it was too late—the cancer had spread beyond his pancreas.

From The Daily Beast

Steve Jobs was right to be optimistic when, in 2004, he announced that he had cancer in his pancreas.

From The Daily Beast

The surgery removes the right side of the pancreas, the gallbladder, and parts of the stomach, bile duct, and small intestine.

From The Daily Beast

In the pancreas after putrefaction, and in the fces of typhus patients, no skatol was found.

From Project Gutenberg

The pancreas, which is the stomach sweetbread, is used less often than the others.

From Project Gutenberg

The thymus and thyroid glands and the pancreas are included under the term sweetbreads.

From Project Gutenberg

The pancreas does not appear in this drawing, being concealed behind the stomach.

From Project Gutenberg

Pan′creatin, the pancreatic juice; Pancreatīt′is, inflammation of the pancreas.

From Project Gutenberg