ghrelin

Syllables: ghre·lin/ˈɡɹɛlɪn/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈɡɹelɪn/

ghrelin noun: a peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

ghrelin (usually uncountable, plural ghrelins)

(usually) A peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.
- We designate the GH-releasing peptide ‘ghrelin’ (ghre is the Proto-Indo-European root of the word ‘grow’).1999 December 9, M[asayasu] Kojima et al., “Ghrelin is a Growth-hormone-releasing Acylated Peptide from Stomach”, in Nature, volume 402, number 6762, →DOI, →PMID, abstract, page 656
- Both human and rat ghrelins are 28 amino acid peptides, in which Ser3 is modified by a fatty acid, primarily n-octanoic acid.2006, Masayasu Kojima, Kenji Kangawa, “Ghrelin, an Endogenous Ligand for the Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor”, in Fred Nyberg, editor, The Somatotrophic Axis in Brain Function, Burlington...

ghrelin meaning in Arabic, Indonesian, Persian and Vietnamese

ghrelin in Arabic

peptide hormone that increases appetite: جريلين jarilin

ghrelin in Indonesian

peptide hormone that increases appetite: ghrelin

ghrelin in Persian

peptide hormone that increases appetite: گرلین

ghrelin in Vietnamese

peptide hormone that increases appetite: ghrelin

More languagesFewer languages

Dhivehi: ޣްރެލިން ġrelin̊

Examples of ghrelin in a sentence

[W]hen you increase ghrelin levels, you stimulate that growth hormone to kick in, and growth hormone builds you not only up but out as well.2006, Michael F[redric] Roizen; Mehmet C[engiz] Oz; with Ted Spiker, Lisa Oz, and Craig Wynett, You, on a Diet: The Owner’s Manual for...
Ghrelin is a 28‐amino acid acylated peptide predominantly secreted by the stomach but also by the brain.2009, Hélène Volkoff, Saraj Unniappan, Scott P. Kelly, “The Endocrine Regulation of Food Intake”, in Nicholas J. Bernier, Glen Van Der...
Currently, ghrelin is considered as a “hunger hormone” that signals the brain the need to initiate food consumption. […] After food ingestion, plasma levels of ghrelin drastically decrease.2011, Palmiero Monteleone, “New Frontiers of Endocrinology in Eating Disorders”, in Roger A. H. Adan, Walter H. Kaye, editors, Behavioral...
That is because sleep affects two appetite-controlling hormones, leptin and ghrelin.2022 February 26, Ruth Alexander, “The surprising links between what you eat and how well you sleep”, in BBC News, BBC, retrieved 27 Feb...

Forms of ghrelin

plural	ghrelins

Origin of ghrelin

From g(rowth) h(ormone)-rel(easing peptide) + -in (suffix forming names of chemical compounds), influenced by Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”): see the December 1999 quotation.

Words formed from ghrelin

Questions about ghrelin

What does ghrelin mean?: Ghrelin means a peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.
What is ghrelin in Arabic?: Ghrelin in Arabic is جريلين (jarilin). See Ghrelin meaning in Arabic.
How do you use ghrelin in a sentence?: [W]hen you increase ghrelin levels, you stimulate that growth hormone to kick in, and growth hormone builds you not only up but out as well.
What part of speech is ghrelin?: Ghrelin is a noun.
How do you pronounce ghrelin?: Ghrelin is pronounced /ˈɡɹɛlɪn/ (UK).
What is the plural of ghrelin?: The plural of ghrelin is ghrelins.

Words near ghrelin in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: ghrelin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ghrelin.wav.

Cite this entry: “ghrelin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ghrelin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.