drug
pronunciation
How to pronounce drug in British English:
UK [drʌɡ]
How to pronounce drug in American English:
US [drʌɡ]
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- Noun:
- a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic
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- Verb:
- administer a drug to
- use recreational drugs
Word Origin
- drug
- drug: [14] Drug is one of the mystery words of the language. It is clear that English acquired it from Old French drogue, but no one is certain where the French word came from. One suggestion is that it originated in Arabic dūrawā ‘chaff’; another, rather more likely, is that its source was Dutch droog ‘dry’, via either the phrase droge waere ‘dry goods’ or droge vate ‘dry barrels’, a common expression for ‘goods packed in barrels’. It has spread to many other European languages, including Italian and Spanish droga, German droge, and Swedish drog.
- drug (n.)
- late 14c. (early 14c. in Anglo-French), "medicine, chemical ingredients," from Old French droge "supply, stock, provision" (14c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German droge-vate "dry barrels," or droge waere, literally "dry wares," but specifically drugs and spices, with first element mistaken as word for the contents (see dry goods), or because medicines mostly consisted of dried herbs. Compare Latin species, in Late Latin "wares," then specialized to "spices" (French épice, English spice). The same source produced Italian and Spanish droga, Swedish drog. Application to "narcotics and opiates" is late 19c., though association with "poisons" is 1500s. Druggie first recorded 1968. To be a drug on or in the market (mid-17c.) is of doubtful connection and may be a different word, perhaps a play on drag, which was sometimes drug c. 1240-1800.
- drug (v.)
- c. 1600, from drug (n.). Related: drugged; drugging.
Example
- 1. But the drug faces many hurdles .
- 2. Food and drug safety in china remain major issues .
- 3. Today the drug is sold as viagra .
- 4. Drug dealers can still be prosecuted as criminals .
- 5. After languishing unused , the oral drug now costs more than the injected one .