text: The terms "endothermic" and "endotherm" are both derived from Greek   "within" and   "heat", but depending on context, they can have very different meanings.
  In physics, thermodynamics applies to processes involving a system and its surroundings, and the term "endothermic" is used to describe a reaction where energy is taken "(with)in" by the system (vs. an "exothermic" reaction, which releases energy "outwards").
  In biology, thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to maintain its body temperature, and the term "endotherm" refers to an organism that can do so from "within" by using the heat released by its internal bodily functions (vs. an "ectotherm", which relies on external, environmental heat sources) to maintain an adequate temperature.