A phonetic loan from English 'hormone', used mainly in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese standardly uses 荷尔蒙 (hé'ěrméng, same meaning, slightly different transliteration) or the calque 激素 (jīsù, 'stimulating element').
mistakes
Mainland readers may write 荷尔蒙 instead — the 贺/荷 swap reflects the Taiwan vs. mainland transliteration choices. Both are accepted in their respective standards.
