extrinsic factor

noun

Biochemistry.

1. vitamin B12.

Word History and Origins

Origin of extrinsic factor¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Tomasetti and Vogelstein then sorted types of cancer according to how much of the variability in risk is due to stem-cell divisions versus to some ‘extrinsic’ factor, such as environmental exposure to carcinogens.

From Nature

The definite relation between alcoholism and insanity is due to alcohol acting not as an intrinsic but an extrinsic factor, bringing into effectiveness the hereditary weakness of the nervous system.

From Project Gutenberg