The front portion of the pituitary gland, which secretes hormones like growth hormone, prolactin, and thyroid-stimulating hormone.
From Greek 'aden' (gland) + 'hypo' (under) + 'physis' (growth). The term literally means 'under-growth gland' because the pituitary hangs below the brain, with 'adeno-' distinguishing the glandular front half.
The adenohypophysis develops from a completely different embryonic tissue than the back half of the pituitary—one grows up from the mouth and one grows down from the brain, so they really are two different glands that just happen to live together.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.