Luteinizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Causing or relating to the process by which ovarian follicles transform into luteal structures after egg release
2. Involving or promoting the development of the corpus luteum in female reproductive biology
3. Pertaining to the biological action that leads to formation of luteal tissue following ovulation

Etymology: "Luteinizing" is the present participle of "luteinize," which is built from "lutein" plus the suffix "-ize." The base word "lutein" takes its name from Latin "luteus," meaning yellow or saffron-colored, the same root behind words like "lute" in the sense of yellow clay. The name fits the pigment: lutein is a yellow carotenoid, and the word was formed from that Latin adjective with the chemical suffix "-in." The "-ize" ending has a longer journey. It descends from a Greek verb-forming suffix, "-izein," which passed into Late Latin as "-izare," then into Old French and Middle English as "-isen," and eventually settled into modern English as "-ize." Because the suffix was adopted so widely, English speakers could attach it to almost any noun to create a verb meaning "to make into" or "to cause to become" the thing named. Luteinize therefore means roughly "to turn into lutein," which in biology came to describe cells transforming into the yellowish, hormone-producing tissue of the corpus luteum.