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Glite Dictionary
pancreatic juice

pancreatic juice

4.0
A clear fluid from an organ behind the stomach that helps digest starch, protein, and fat
  • noun
  • /ˌpæŋkriˈætɪk dʒuːs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : jugo pancreático
  • Bile and pancreatic juice dump into the afferent loop, as can be seen in the illustration above.

Examples

  • The doctor explained that pancreatic juice helps break down food in the digestive system.

  • In order to properly digest fats, the body relies on the enzymes found in pancreatic juice.

  • After meals, the pancreas releases pancreatic juice into the small intestine to aid digestion.

Surface Forms

pancreatic juice singular
pancreatic juices plural

Morphology

pancreatic + juice

The phrase is fully compositional: 'pancreatic' (pertaining to the pancreas) + 'juice' (a bodily liquid) directly yields the meaning 'the liquid produced by the pancreas.' Although it is a medical term and somewhat specialized, the relation between the constituents and the overall meaning is transparent and cross-linguistically regular, so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Pancreatic juice is a simple image: pancreatic means 'from the pancreas' and juice means a liquid. So it is the liquid the pancreas sends into the small intestine to help break down food and help digestion.