methadone

See also: méthadone

English

Chemical structure of methadone

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-European *dwi-

Proto-Hellenic *dwi-

Ancient Greek δῐ- (dĭ-)bor.

Latin di-bor.

English di-

Proto-Indo-European *médʰu

Proto-Hellenic *métʰu

Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu)

Proto-Indo-European *swel-der.?

Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der.

German -yl

German Methylbor.

English methyl

English dimethyl

Egyptian jmnbor.

Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)bor.

Latin Ammōn

Latin ammoniacusder.

English ammonia

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos

Proto-Italic *-īnos

Latin -īnusder.

Old French -inbor.

Middle English -in

English -ine

English amine

Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der.

Latin -o-bor.

English -o-

English amino-

English amino

English (di)meth(yl)a(mino)

▲

English di-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der.

Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō

Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō)der.

French phéno-

▲

Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)der.

French -yle

French phénylebor.

English phenyl

English d(iphenyl)

English (heptan)one

English methadone

From (di)meth(yl)a(mino) + d(iphenyl) + (heptan)one.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛθ.əd.əʊn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛθ.əˌdoʊn/

Noun

methadone (countable and uncountable, plural methadones)

1. (pharmacology) A powerful synthetic analgesic drug which is similar to morphine in its effects but less sedative and is used as a substitute drug in the treatment of morphine and heroin addiction.

   Synonym: amidone

   • 1971 March 19, Richard Severo, “Addiction: Chemistry Is the New Hope, but Degree of Its Effectiveness Is Still Disputed”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     But methadone is a dangerous drug. If taken orally by a nonaddict, it can cause euphoria or even death.

Derived terms

• isomethadone
• levomethadone
• normethadone

Translations

synthetic opioid analgesic

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 美沙酮 (mei⁵ saa¹ tung⁴)

  Mandarin: 美沙酮 (zh) (měishātóng), 美沙冬 (měishādōng)

• Czech: metadon (cs)
• Esperanto: metadono
• Finnish: metadoni (fi)
• French: méthadone (fr) f
• German: Methadon (de)
• Ido: metadono (io)
• Kazakh: метадон (metadon)
• Macedonian: метадон m (metadon)
• Polish: metadon (pl) m
• Spanish: metadona f
• Swedish: metadon n
• Turkish: metadon

References

• “methadone”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “methadone”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.