Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A polypeptide hormone secreted by the islets of Langerhans and functioning in the regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, especially the conversion of glucose to glycogen, which lowers the blood glucose level.
  • noun Any of various pharmaceutical preparations containing this hormone that are derived from the pancreas of certain animals or produced through genetic engineering and are used in the medical treatment and management of diabetes mellitus (type I).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A polypeptide hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun hormone secreted by the isles of Langerhans in the pancreas; regulates storage of glycogen in the liver and accelerates oxidation of sugar in cells

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin īnsula, island (of Langerhans) (from Latin, island) + –in.]

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