crine

Crine is a combining form used in medical terminology to indicate secretion or secretory action. It is derived from the Greek krinein, meaning to separate or to secrete. In practice, crine appears as a suffix or element in terms that describe how a substance is released from a cell, tissue, or gland.

In endocrinology and related fields, crine helps form terms that classify secretory pathways. Endocrine refers to glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream for distant effects. Exocrine describes glands that release their products through ducts to an epithelial surface or another site in the body. The same root underpins signaling terms such as autocrine (the secreting cell also responds to its own signal) and paracrine (signals affect nearby cells). Intracrine and intracrine-like terms describe actions occurring within the same cell, using a related morphological pattern.

Etymology and usage notes: crine is not a standalone English word but a bound morpheme used to form specialized vocabulary. It is often paired with prefixes like endo-, exo-, auto-, and para- to convey the spatial or functional aspect of secretion. While crine conveys the concept of secretion, the precise meaning depends on the accompanying prefix, which defines the source, route, or target of the secreted substance.

See also: endocrine, exocrine, autocrine, paracrine, intracrine, krinein (the Greek root).