pituitary

The story

1. Latinpītuīta
2. Latinpītuītāriu
3. English todaypituitary

Learned borrowing from Latin pītuītārius (“mucous”), from pītuīta (“mucus, phlegm”). First attested in the 1610s. First attested as a noun by 1899. The term was adopted as the name for the gland, because it was believed that it channeled mucus to the nose.