neurotic

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve, sinew”) with the suffix -otic,^[2][3][4][5] on the model of hypnotic,^[3][4][6] or of the noun narcotic.^[7] The OED compares French névrotique, recorded in 1764 in the sense "acting on the nerves".^[2] The modern senses were taken from neurosis, which the Scottish physician William Cullen coined in Latin in the 1760s and 1770s from the same Greek word;^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster explains the adjective as made from neurosis after pairs such as narcosis and narcotic.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Acting on the nerves: 1659, in a book by R. Lovell.^[2][7] Etymonline and Barnhart date the adjective to 1775.^[3][4][8] The noun, a drug that acts on the nerves, follows in 1661, again in Lovell.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th and 18th centuries neurotic was a medical word for drugs that act on the nervous system, as a noun (1661–1885) and as an adjective (1659–1893);^[2][9] the Shorter Oxford finds the adjective in that sense only in dictionaries.^[6] Once Cullen's neurosis was current, the adjective was attached to it: "of the nature of a neurosis" from 1866,^[2] and "relating to the nervous system" by 1873, in Etymonline's dating.^[3] From 1886 it was said of a person who has a neurosis,^[2] and soon loosely of anyone overanxious, oversensitive or obsessive;^[2][6][10] Etymonline and Barnhart date the sense "affected by neurosis" to 1887.^[3][8] The noun for a person with a neurosis is recorded from 1835,^[2] though Etymonline and Barnhart find it only in 1896.^[3][8] A Webster's dictionary of 1841 also used neurotic for neurosis itself, a use that did not last.^[2]

Timeline

• 1659 – acting on the nerves (obsolete by 1893).^[2][7]
• 1661 – noun, a drug or toxin that acts on the nervous system (obsolete by 1885).^[2][7] Etymonline dates it to the 1660s.^[3]
• 1835 – noun, a person who has a neurosis.^[2][9] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to 1896.^[3][4]
• 1841 – noun, a neurosis (rare, obsolete).^[2]
• 1866 – of the nature of a neurosis.^[2]
• 1886 – of a person, having a neurosis; loosely, excessively anxious or obsessive.^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to 1887.^[3][4]
• 1907 – symptomatic of a neurosis, typical of a neurotic.^[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to, caused by or of the nature of a neurosis: a neurotic disorder.^{[10][11][7][2]}
2. Of a person, having a neurosis.^[7][2][6]
3. Loosely, unreasonably anxious, sensitive or obsessive: He is neurotic about locking every door twice.^[10][6][2]
4. (obsolete, 1659–1893) Acting on the nerves.^[2][6]

Noun

1. A person who has a neurosis, or who is unusually anxious or insecure.^{[11][10][7][2]}
2. (obsolete, 1661–1885) A drug that acts on the nervous system.^[2][6][7]

Word family

• neurotically
• hyperneurotic
• neuroticism
• nonneurotic
• postneurotic
• unneurotic
• psychoneurotic

Related words

• neurosis
• neuron
• nerve
• neuro-
• psychotic
• hypnotic
• narcotic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ a b c d Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins