islet of Langerhans

American

[lahng-er-hahns, -hahnz, lahng-ger-] / ˈlɑŋ ərˌhɑns, -ˌhɑnz, ˈlɑŋ gər- /

noun

Anatomy.

any of several masses of endocrine cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin, somatostatin, and glucagon.

Named after Paul Langerhans (1847–88), German anatomist, who described them in 1869

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023