Cortisone

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɔː.tɪ.zəʊn/

Definitions

1. A synthetic hormone closely related to cortisol that is specifically employed to alleviate inflammation in conditions such as eczema and asthma
2. A man-made steroid similar to cortisol used medically to treat inflammation and allergic reactions
3. An artificially produced hormone derived from cortisol, employed to decrease swelling and immune response in various diseases

Etymology: Cortisone is a clipped form of "corticosterone," a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. The "cortico-" part comes from Latin "cortex," meaning bark or rind, a reference to the outer layer of the adrenal gland where these hormones are made. The "-sterone" ending comes from "sterol," itself built from "stereós," the Greek word for solid, combined with "-ol" from "alcohol," and the "-one" suffix that chemists use to mark ketones, a term borrowed from German "Keton." The ending "-one" is the more surprising part of the story. It was adopted in chemistry to mark ketones, and its ancestor "Keton" was a German coinage built from "acetone," which itself derives from Latin "acetum," meaning vinegar. So a suffix that now signals a family of molecules traces back, through a chain of chemical naming, to the sourness of vinegar. Cortisone was shortened from corticosterone, and the word has the familiar pattern of a chemical name trimmed to something easier to say, though its full history is that of a term built from parts that were named at different times and in different languages.