methadone

Etymology

It is formed from English methyl + amino- + diphenyl + heptanone, parts of the drug's chemical name, 6-dimethylamino-4,4-diphenyl-3-heptanone,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} taking a syllable or a letter from each.^[2][7][8] The American Heritage Dictionary takes the word as short for “methadone hydrochloride”.^[7] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.^[9] The OED compares the slightly earlier amidone, a name for the same drug formed from the same chemical name;^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates amidone to 1943 and thinks it was probably first formed in German.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The synthetic opioid drug: 1947, in the Journal of the American Medical Association of 23 August.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged, Barnhart and Etymonline also date the word to 1947,^[6][4][3] and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the 1940s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OED describes the drug as an opioid analgesic that lasts longer and sedates less than morphine and can be taken by mouth, which is why it came to be used in treating addiction.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Collins define it both as a painkiller and as a substitute narcotic given to people addicted to heroin or other opiates.^[6][10]

Timeline

• 1947 – a synthetic opioid analgesic, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.^[2][6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A synthetic addictive opioid drug used to relieve pain and, as a substitute, in the treatment of addiction to heroin and other opiates.^{[6][10][2][8]}

Related words

• methyl
• amino-
• amidone

Usage notes

The spelling methadon is less common.^[6][10][9] The drug is also called amidone,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford gives Physeptone as a proprietary name for it.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b 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