Where does “fentanyl” come from?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug whose name combines fen- from phenethyl and -anyl from aniline, itself from Portuguese anil, a West Indian indigo plant, via French anil and Spanish añil.
fentanyl (English): A synthetic opioid narcotic analgesic CHNO with...
Definitions
- A synthetic opioid narcotic analgesic CHNO with...
Ancestry of “fentanyl”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | anilide | Any organic compound derived from an oxoacid by... |
| 2 | English | aniline | The simplest aromatic amine, CHNH, synthesized by... |
| 3 | English | anil | The indigo shrub; or the indigo dye obtained from... |
| 4 | Portuguese | anil | indigo |
| 5 | Arabic | نِيل | indigo |
| 6 | Persian | نیل | indigo |
| 7 | Arabic | نيل | verbal noun of نَالَ; indigo; to colour indigo |
| 8 | Middle Persian | 𐭭𐭩𐭫 | indigo |
| 9 | Sanskrit | नील | of a dark color |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | neyH- | to lead |
Words derived from “fentanyl”