oxytocin

What it means

1. countableuncountablebiochemistryA hormone that stimulates contractions during labor, and then the production of milk; also plays a role in social bonding.

   MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, greatly increases feelings of empathy (and perhaps the actual capacity to perceive the emotions of others); one of the mechanisms (oxytocin release) is now becoming understood, […]

   2011, Mark A.R. Kleiman et al., Drugs and Drug Policy, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Some women describe episodes of intense pleasure akin to orgasm during nursing. It would be interesting to know whether the release of oxytocin during suckling plays a role in this subjective feeling, as it may do in actual orgasm.

   1994, Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 67

   When human beings bond—by hugging, kissing, touching, having sex, eating together, giving massages, or even when singing together or speaking reassuring words—oxytocin brings us “in from the cold,” warming us—quite literally—as it redirects blood flow into hands, feet, chests and cheeks.

   2012, Giles Slade, “World without oxytocin”, in Big Disconnect, Prometheus Books, →ISBN

In a sentence

Some women describe episodes of intense pleasure akin to orgasm during nursing. It would be interesting to know whether the release of oxytocin during suckling plays a role in this subjective feeling, as it may do in actual orgasm.

1994, Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 67

Where it comes from

From oxytocic, from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, “swift”) + τόκος (tókos, “childbirth”, from τίκτω (tíktō, “I give birth”)).