/ ˈiːstrədʒən; NAmE / ( BrE ) ( NAmE es·tro·gen / ˈes-/) noun
[ U ] a hormone produced in women's ovaries that causes them to develop the physical and sexual features that are characteristic of females and that causes them to prepare their body to have babies
—compare progesterone , testosterone
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WORD ORIGIN
1920s: from oestrus (from Greek oistros gadfly or frenzy) + -gen .