steroidn.
/ˈstɛrɔɪd/, /ˈstɪərɔɪd/, U.S. /ˈstɛˌrɔɪd/, /ˈstɪˌrɔɪd/ Biochemistry.
Any of a large class of naturally occurring or synthetic organic compounds characterized by a nucleus of 17 carbon atoms in the form of four fused rings (three containing six carbon atoms and one containing five) and with varying substituents and degrees of unsaturation, the members of which include sterols, many sex and adrenocortical hormones, insect hormones, bile acids and alcohols, cardiac-active glycones, and some sapogenins and alkaloids, and many of which have important pharmacological uses. Frequently attributive or as adj. , as steroid chemistry, steroid hormone. anabolic steroid, a steroid whose anabolic effects predominate over the masculinizing ones.
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the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > organic compounds > [noun] > cyclic compounds > steroids
steroid1936
1936 Callow & Young in Proc. Royal Soc. A. 157 194 The term ‘steroids’ is proposed as generic name for the group of compounds comprising the sterols, bile acids, heart poisons, saponins and sex hormones.
1956 Nature 28 Jan. 188/2 We have observed the effects on wool growth of treating sheep with adrenocorticotrophic hormone and with cortical steroids.
1959 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 13) xiv. 151 In ophthalmology, these steroids may be administered locally or systemically.
1960 Times 19 Jan. 3/5 (advt.) Applicants should have had considerable experience in steroid chemistry, and be well acquainted with recent work on gonadotropic, oestrogenic and progestational hormones.
1961 Nature 30 Sept. 1368/1 New anabolic steroids with low androgenic activity.
1969 Times 16 Jan. 4/8 Steroid hormones, which are excreted in the urine, are one of the many body chemicals that follow a daily fluctuation.
1969 J. A. Vida Androgens & Anabolic Agents i. 2 Since anabolic steroids promote protein synthesis in the muscular system, these drugs find important application in clinical medicine to speed up healing of wounds.
1971 Brit. Med. Bull. 27 26/1 The amount of oestrogen in steroid contraceptives influences the hazard of thrombo-embolism.
1972 Nature 21 Jan. 125/1 Steroids are small and rather simple molecules which nevertheless elicit a complex array of biochemical responses in their target tissues, often leading to profound changes in growth and differentiation.
1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xix. 355 Anabolic steroids..have been used by football players, weight lifters, and athletes.
1974 M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. xxi. 384 Digitalis glycosides consist of an aglycone fraction that has a steroid nucleus.
1977 Daily News (Perth, Austral.) 19 Jan. 49 The British National Racehorse Trainers' Federation has officially admitted that anabolic steroids have been in common use throughout the training profession for several years.
Derivatives
steˈroidal adj. possessing the structure of, or pertaining to, a steroid.
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the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > organic compounds > [adjective] > cyclic compounds > having structure of or relating to steroids
steroidal1938
1938 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 60 1736/2 Arguments are advanced to indicate that the steroidal hormones and bile acids do not originate from cholesterol.
1957 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 79 3222/1 Bromination of the steroidal sapogenin side chain.
1963 Katzman & Elliott in Florkin & Stotz Comprehensive Biochem. X. iii. 72 A number of methods have been developed for the quantitative estimation of the steroidal estrogens.
1972 Lancet 22 Sept. 611/1 Little is known about the growth and steroidal activity of the human ovarian follicle.
1977 Listener 18 Aug. 208/2 The wild yam, the source of steroidal compounds used as the starting material for oral contraceptives.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1936