narcotic
pronunciation
How to pronounce narcotic in British English:
UK [ nɑːˈkɒtɪk]
How to pronounce narcotic in American English:
US [ nɑːrˈkɑːtɪk]
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- Noun:
- a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction
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- Adjective:
- of or relating to or designating narcotics
- inducing stupor or narcosis
- inducing mental lethargy
Word Origin
- narcotic
- narcotic: [14] Greek nárkē meant ‘numbness’. From it was derived the verb narkoun ‘make numb’, which in turn formed the basis of the adjective narkōtikós ‘numbing’, which passed into English via medieval Latin narcōticus and Old French narcotique.
- narcotic (n.)
- late 14c., from Old French narcotique (early 14c.), noun use of adjective, and directly from Medieval Latin narcoticum, from Greek narkotikon, neuter of narkotikos "making stiff or numb," from narkotos, verbal adjective of narcoun "to benumb, make unconscious," from narke "numbness, deadness, stupor, cramp" (also "the electric ray"), perhaps from PIE root *(s)nerq- "to turn, twist." Sense of "any illegal drug" first recorded 1926, American English. Related: Narcotics.
- narcotic (adj.)
- c. 1600, from Middle French narcotique (14c.) or German narkotisch and directly from Medieval Latin narcoticus, from Greek narkotikos (see narcotic (n.)). Related: Narcotical (1580s).
Example
- 1. Whether public or private , cannabis use contradicts federal law , which classifies marijuana as an illegal narcotic .
- 2. He added : " rising prices are a narcotic that affect the reasoning power up and down the line . "
- 3. The bodies of those engaged in kissing produce a substance that is 200 times more powerful than morphine in terms of narcotic effect .
- 4. Computers are the perfect narcotic , even better than tv , because you rarely sit around a computer with your friends .
- 5. Last year bolivia 's left-wing government briefly withdrew from the un 's single convention on narcotic drugs , the 1961 treaty underpinning prohibition .