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Origin and history of testosterone

testosterone(n.)

male sex hormone, 1935, from German Testosteron (1935), coined from a presumed combining form of Latin testis "testicle" (see testis) + first syllable of sterol + chemical ending -one.

also from 1935

Entries linking to testosterone

sterol(n.)

"white, crystalline substance discovered in gallstones," 1913, abstracted from cholesterol.

testis(n.)

"a testicle," 1704, from Latin testis (plural testes) "testicle," a word usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament) on the notion of what "bears witness to male virility" [Barnhart]. Stories that trace the Latin word to some supposed swearing-in ceremony are groundless modern inventions.

Compare Greek parastatai "testicles," from parastates "one that stands by;" and French slang témoins, literally "witnesses." But Buck thinks Greek parastatai "testicles" has been wrongly associated with the legal sense of parastatēs "supporter, defender" and suggests instead parastatai in the sense of twin "supporting pillars, props of a mast," etc. Or it might be a euphemistic use of the word in the sense "comrades." OED (1989), meanwhile, points to Walde's suggestion of a connection between testis and testa "pot, shell, etc." (see tete).

-one

chemical suffix, from Greek -one, female patronymic (as in anemone, "daughter of the wind," from anemos); in chemical use denoting a "weaker" derivative. Its use in forming acetone (1830s) gave rise to the specialized chemical sense.

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    flirt
    1550s, "to turn up one's nose, sneer at;" later "to rap or flick, as with the fingers" (1560s); "throw with a sudden movement," also "move in short, quick flights" (1580s). Perhaps imitative (compare flip (v.), also East Frisian flirt "a flick or light blow," flirtje "a giddy gir
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    late Old English, from Old French Ebreu, from Latin Hebraeus, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic (Semitic) 'ebhrai, corresponding to Hebrew 'ibhri "an Israelite." Traditionally from an ancestral name Eber, but probably literally "one from the other side," perhaps in reference to t
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    apology
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    used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews in 1906 in "American Character;" popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess. Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets, and probably derisively imitative. Gelett Burgess ... then entertained the guests with some
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    also latchkey, "a key to raise or draw back the latch of a door" and allow one to enter from outside, 1825, from latch (n.) + key (n.1). Latchkey child first recorded 1944, American English, in reference to children coming home from school while both parents are away at work. Ma
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    1580s, "handy, dexterous, having special manual ability," apparently from East Anglian dialectal cliver "expert at seizing," perhaps from East Frisian klüfer "skillful," or Norwegian dialectic klover "ready, skillful," and perhaps influenced by Old English clifer "claw, hand" (ea
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    c. 1200, "throw, throw violently, fling, hurl," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse kasta "to throw" (cognate with Swedish kasta, Danish kaste, North Frisian kastin), a word of uncertain origin. The meaning "to form in a mold" is late 15c. In the sense of "to throw" it r
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    early 13c., "of or pertaining to the head," from Old French capital, from Latin capitalis "of the head," hence "capital, chief, first," from caput (genitive capitis) "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head"). The meaning "main, principal, chief, dominant, first in importance" is from

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