endogenous
Americanadjective
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proceeding from within; derived internally.
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Biology. growing or developing from within; originating within.
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Pathology. (of a disease) resulting from conditions within the organism rather than externally caused.
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Biochemistry. pertaining to the metabolism of nitrogenous elements of cells and tissues.
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Geology. endogenetic.
adjective
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biology developing or originating within an organism or part of an organism
endogenous rhythms
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having no apparent external cause
endogenous depression
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of endogenous
Explanation
If your doctor says your sickness is endogenous, he means that whatever's wrong with you went wrong inside your body, and wasn't caused by anything you can catch, like a virus. Endogenous is a fancy term for anything that originates internally. You're most likely to see the word endogenous when you're dealing with biology, but it can mean "coming from within" in other senses too. Use it for anything that originates inside a system. The revolution in your school was endogenous, even though the principal, always in denial, chose to blame it on outside rabble-rousers.
Vocabulary lists containing endogenous
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet current prescribing guidelines don’t recommend asking a basic question before initiating treatment: Does this patient actually have low endogenous GLP-1 levels?
From Slate • Mar. 22, 2026
"We needed a tool to do that exploration to understand which variants are functional in their endogenous genomic context and understand how they contribute to disease progression."
From Science Daily • Oct. 18, 2025
Economists after Solow, particularly Robert Lucas and Paul Romer, had models of economic growth with endogenous technological change.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025
The 30 distinct families of endogenous retroviruses, as that ancient viral DNA is called, in humans each represents a distinct process of colonization.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2025
They are characterized by their unicellular nature, their power of rapid budding, their capacity for fermenting various sugars, and their power of forming endogenous 340 spores.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
