amphetamine

Etymology

It is from English a shortening of alpha-methylphenethylamine,^[2][3][4][5] the drug's chemical name, built from alpha, methyl, phenethyl (from pheno- and ethyl) and amine.^[2][6] Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary describe it as an acronym from the letters “a-m-ph-et” of alpha, methyl, phenyl and ethyl, with amine;^{[7][8][9][10]} the Merriam-Webster Unabridged classes it as International Scientific Vocabulary.^[6][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A stimulant of the central nervous system: 1938, in the Journal of the American Medical Association of 2 July.^[2][6][3][7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1935–40.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The drug was used clinically as a stimulant and decongestant,^[4] and formerly as a short-term appetite suppressant;^[6] it is now prescribed for attention deficit disorders and narcolepsy, and it is also widely taken illicitly, often leading to dependence.^[6][2] Etymonline glosses the early word as a heart-stimulating drug.^[3] A proprietary name for it was Benzedrine,^[4] and in informal use it is called speed.^[10] The word also names any of its salts or derivatives, such as methamphetamine, and a tablet of the drug.^[6][2][4]

Timeline

• 1938 – a synthetic stimulant drug.^[2][6][7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1935–40.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A synthetic stimulant of the central nervous system, used medically to treat attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy and often abused as a recreational drug: The athlete was banned after testing positive for amphetamine.^[6][2][10]
2. Any of its salts or derivatives, such as methamphetamine, or a tablet of one of them.^[6][2][4]

Word family

• methamphetamine

Related words

• amine
• methyl
• ethyl
• alpha

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam