heroin English · revision 15075

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1898}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈher.əʊ.ɪn/, US /ˈher.oʊ.ɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|de|Heroin]], a trademark registered in 1898 by Friedrich Bayer & Co. for their substitute for morphine.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989) By tradition the name comes from [[grc|ἥρως|tr=hḗrōs|t=hero]] (see [[hero]]) and the chemical suffix [[-ine]], from the drug's effect on the user's self-esteem,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(Collins 2023) but Etymonline finds no evidence for this, and Barnhart and Hoad call the name unexplained or uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1898.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) The Lancet of December 1898 reported trials of the new hypnotic in Professor Gerhardt's clinic in Berlin.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before the trademark was registered, a report on fifty patients with lung disease at a Berlin hospital found the drug effective against coughs, leaving patients comfortable and drowsy with no unpleasant side effects.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1898 – Heroin (German trademark); heroin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A highly addictive narcotic, a white, bitter crystalline powder made from [[morphine]]; diamorphine.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heroinism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hero]]

+ * [[morphine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}