HYPOPHYSIS (hypophyses)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: hypophyses   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hypophysis mean? 

• HYPOPHYSIS (noun)
  The noun HYPOPHYSIS has 1 sense:

1. the master gland of the endocrine system; located at the base of the brain

  Familiarity information: HYPOPHYSIS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HYPOPHYSIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The master gland of the endocrine system; located at the base of the brain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

hypophysis; pituitary; pituitary body; pituitary gland

Hypernyms ("hypophysis" is a kind of...):

ductless gland; endocrine; endocrine gland (any of the glands of the endocrine system that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream)

Meronyms (parts of "hypophysis"):

hypophyseal stalk (the funnel-shaped stalk connecting the pituitary gland to the hypothalamus)

adenohypophysis; anterior pituitary; anterior pituitary gland (the anterior lobe of the pituitary body; primarily glandular in nature)

neurohypophysis; pars nervosa; posterior pituitary; posterior pituitary gland (the posterior lobe of the pituitary body; primarily glandular in nature)

Holonyms ("hypophysis" is a part of...):

betweenbrain; diencephalon; interbrain; thalmencephalon (the posterior division of the forebrain; connects the cerebral hemispheres with the mesencephalon)

Derivation:

hypophyseal; hypophysial (of or relating to the hypophysis)

 Context examples 

A cell of the neural lobe of the hypophysis.

(Pituicyte, NCI Thesaurus)