Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “benzodiazepine” come from?

Benzodiazepine comes from English benzoin and English diazepine, which derives from Ancient Greek διά (dia, "through") and Ancient Greek δισα (disa, "twice"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dwís and dwóh₁, meaning "two."

benzodiazepine (English): Any of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured...

Definitions

  1. Any of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured...

Ancestry of “benzodiazepine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdiazepineA seven-membered unsaturated heterocycle having...
2EnglishazepineAn unsaturated seven-membered heterocycle having...
3Englishaz-Alternative form of azo-; Alternative form of...
4EnglishazoteNitrogen
5Frenchazotenitrogen
6Ancient Greekἀ-The alpha privativum, used to make words that...
7Proto-Hellenichə-same; together
8Proto-Indo-Europeansm̥-one; with, together
9Proto-Indo-Europeansem-together, one

Words derived from “benzodiazepine”

  • nonbenzodiazepine
  • imidazobenzodiazepine
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sem- →