%pancrea%

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;; pa^s, pa^n, all + kre`as flesh, meat: cf. F. pancréas. ] (Anat.) The sweetbread, a gland connected with the intestine of nearly all vertebrates. It is usually elongated and light-colored, and its secretion, called the pancreatic juice, is discharged, often together with the bile, into the upper part of the intestines, and is a powerful aid in digestion. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pancréatique. ] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the pancreas; as, the pancreatic secretion, digestion, ferments. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pancreatic juice (Physiol.), a colorless alkaline fluid secreted intermittently by the pancreatic gland. It is one of the most important of the digestive fluids, containing at least three distinct enzymes, trypsin, steapsin (lipase) and an amylase, by which it acts upon all three classes of food stuffs. See Pancreas. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]