narcotic (2)
440 Views

GC: n

S: BJA – https://www.bjanaesthesia.org.uk/article/S0007-0912(17)51838-3/pdf (last access: 5 July 2020); UofMhealth – https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/d03436a1 (last access: 5 July 2020).

N: 1. As a noun, late 14c., narcotik, “substance which directly induces sleep or allays sensibility and blunts the senses,” from Old French narcotique (early 14c.), noun use of adjective, and directly from Medieval Latin narcoticum, from Greek narkōtikon, neuter of narkōtikos “making stiff or numb,” from narkōtos, verbal adjective of narkoun “to benumb, make unconscious,” from narkē “numbness, deadness, stupor, cramp” (also “the electric ray”).
This has been connected to a PIE root *(s)nerq- “to turn, twist,” with cognates in Germanic (Old Norse snara “to turn, swing, wind;”), but Beekes finds this “semantically far from convincing,” and writes, “The structure of this word looks non-IE. Therefore, we should rather assume a Pre-Greek word *nark-.” Sense of “any illegal drug” first recorded 1926, American English. Related: Narcotics.
2. Narcotic, as an adjective: – having the properties of or yielding a narcotic. – inducing mental lethargy. – of, induced by, or concerned with narcotics. – of, involving, or intended for narcotic addicts.
– Narcotic, as a noun: – a drug (such as opium or morphine) that in moderate doses dulls the senses, relieves pain, and induces profound sleep but in excessive doses causes stupor, coma, or convulsions. – a drug (such as marijuana or LSD) subject to restriction similar to that of addictive narcotics whether physiologically (see PHYSIOLOGICAL) addictive and narcotic or not. – something that soothes, relieves, or lulls.
– Stupefacient, as an adjective: bringing about a stuporSTUPEFYING.
– Stupefacient, as a noun: something promoting stupefactionNARCOTIC.
3. Medication: A sleep-producing or pain relieving [analgesic] agent.

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=narcotic (last access: 2 July 2020). 2. MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcotic; https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stupefacient (last access: 2 July 2020).  (last access: 2 July 2020)(last access: 5 July 2020). 3. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=narcotic&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 5 July 2020).

SYN:
S:

CR: amphetamine, codeine, drug, drug substance, fentanyl, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, morphine, narcolepsy, narcosis, narcotic, opium, sleeping pill.