gland
pronunciation
How to pronounce gland in British English:
UK [ɡlænd]
How to pronounce gland in American English:
US [ɡlænd]
-
- Noun:
- any of various organs that synthesize substances needed by the body and release it through ducts or directly into the bloodstream
Word Origin
- gland (n.)
- 1690s, from French glande (Old French glandre "a gland," 13c.), from Latin glandula "gland of the throat, tonsil," diminutive of glans (genitive glandis) "acorn, nut; acorn-shaped ball," from PIE root *gwele- (2) "acorn" (cognates: Greek balanos, Armenian kalin, Old Church Slavonic zelodi "acorn;" Lithuanian gile "oak"). Earlier English form was glandula (c. 1400); Middle English also had glandele "inflamed gland" (c. 1400). Extended from tonsils to glands generally.
Example
- 1. The sweating rate depends on the sweat output per gland .
- 2. The prostate is a walnut-shaped gland found only in men .
- 3. Though this might look like a tumor under the skin , it 's actually nothing more than a blocked oil gland .
- 4. Once the chick is hatched , the male feeds it with milk from a gland in his esophagus .
- 5. Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located below your adam 's apple .