Skip to main content
HCG

HCG

7 6.6
A hormone the body makes early in pregnancy that shows if someone is pregnant
  • noun
  • /ˌeɪtʃ siː ˈdʒiː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : HCG
  • Pregnancy tests detect HCG levels to determine if someone is pregnant.
  • HCG concentration
  • HCG level
  • positive HCG

There is no HCG hormone in tetanus toxoid vaccines.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The presence of HCG in a woman's blood is a clear indicator of pregnancy.

  • The HCG diet revolves around the use of HCG hormones to burn excessive and unused fats in the body.

    Blog text (10)
  • Look, my HCG levels aren't where they should be.

  • The HCG in your blood tells us you're not.

  • So when a woman is pregnant, she produces more HCG, especially in the first trimester.

  • It's actually measuring something called HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin.

  • A normal pregnancy causes HCG levels to rise significantly during the first trimester.

Synonyms

human chorionic gonadotropin
vsHCG
  • Specialized
1 7.0

A hormone made by the placenta early in pregnancy used in pregnancy tests

is the shorter abbreviated form used on labels and test kits

Surface Forms

HCG singular
HCGs plural

Morphology

HCG = H + C + G

HCG is an initialism whose letters do not correspond to standalone English morphemes; the meaning is only accessible via expansion (human chorionic gonadotropin).

Etymology

HCG is short for human chorionic gonadotropin; human means 'from people', chorionic comes from the chorion, the placenta around the baby, and gonadotropin means 'a hormone that stimulates the sex organs'. So, HCG is the hormone made by the placenta early in pregnancy, which is why pregnancy tests look for it.