Neurochemical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A substance that carries messages between nerve cells to facilitate communication within the nervous system
2. A chemical compound that acts as a messenger to transmit signals across neurons in the brain and body
3. A natural compound involved in the process of nerve signal transmission in the nervous system

Etymology: Neurochemical is a plain modern compound: "neuro-" joined to "chemical." The first part comes from Ancient Greek "neûron," meaning sinew, tendon or nerve, which gave English its prefix for anything relating to the nervous system. The Greek word did not originally mean "nerve" in the modern anatomical sense; it referred to the tough fibrous tissues of the body, and the nerve sense developed later in Greek and was carried into scientific Latin and then English. The second part traces a longer route. "Chemical" descends from "chemistry," which passed through Medieval Latin "alchemia" from Arabic "al-kīmiyāʔ," and that Arabic term was itself borrowed from Ancient Greek "khumeíā," meaning the art of casting metals or fusing substances. The adjective form came into English through New Latin "chēmicus," with the Latin suffix "-icus" and then the French-influenced "-al" ending, giving the familiar word "chemical." Put together, the compound is a modern coinage, combining a Greek-rooted prefix with a word that travelled from Greek through Arabic and Latin before reaching English.

Synonyms: neurotransmitter, chemical messenger