Pheochromocyte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialized cell, found mainly in the adrenal medulla, that stains darkly with chromium salts and releases adrenaline-like hormones
2. A type of chromaffin cell in the adrenal gland that produces and stores catecholamine hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline
3. An endocrine cell of the adrenal medulla whose granules store catecholamines, often forming tumors when it grows abnormally

Etymology: The name of this adrenal cell is built from a chemical reaction rather than a person or an old word. The first part, "pheochrome," describes how the cells look when they are treated with chromium salts: they darken to a brownish or dusky tint. The Greek "phaios" (dusky, dark) combines with "chrōma" (colour), so the word literally means something like "dusky colour," and the chemical stain it refers to gave the cells their name long before anyone understood their function. The word is a compound of three parts. "Pheochrome" is joined to the connecting vowel "-o-" and to "-cyte," from Greek "kytos" (hollow vessel, later used for cells), which is the standard suffix for a cell. The result is a technical coinage built from classical building blocks, not a term that ancient Greek or Roman physicians ever used.