Meaning

noun the master gland of the endocrine system; located at the base of the brain

adjective of or relating to the pituitary gland

originEtymology tree Latin pītuīta Latin pītuītāriuslbor. English pituitary Learned borrowing from Latin pītuītārius (“mucous”), from pītuīta (“mucus, phlegm”). First attested in the 1610s. First attested as a noun by 1899. The term was adopted as the name for the gland, because it was believed that it channeled mucus to the nose.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0