Etymology

dextroamphetamine

Today it means: One of the stereoisomers of amphetamine, with the chemical formula C₉H₁₃N, that is used to stimulate the central nervous system. Full definition →

English amphetamine ← Latin ammoniacus ← Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*déḱs
  2. Proto-Indo-European*deḱs-terós
  3. Proto-Italic*deksteros
  4. Latindexter
  5. Englishdextro-
  6. Proto-Semitic*ʔalp-
  7. Phoenician𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)
  8. Ancient Greekἄλφα (álpha)
  9. Proto-Semitic*bayt-
  10. Phoenician𐤁𐤕 (bt)
  11. Ancient Greekβῆτᾰ (bêtă)
  12. Ancient Greekἀλφάβητος (alphábētos)
  13. Medieval Greekἀλφάβητον (alphábēton)
  14. Classical Latinalphabētum
  15. Middle Englishalphabete
  16. Englishalphabet
  17. Englishalpha-
  18. Proto-Indo-European*médʰu
  19. Proto-Hellenic*métʰu
  20. Ancient Greekμέθυ (méthu)
  21. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  22. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  23. GermanMethy
  24. Englishmethyl
  25. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  26. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  27. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  28. Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
  29. Frenchphéno-
  30. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  31. Frenchphényle
  32. Englishphenyl
  33. Englishpheno-
  34. Englishphen-
  35. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eydʰ-
  36. Proto-Hellenic*áitʰō
  37. Ancient Greekαἴθω (aíthō)
  38. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
  39. Ancient Greekαἰθήρ (aithḗr)
  40. Latinaethēr
  41. GermanÄther
  42. GermanEther
  43. GermanEthy
  44. Englishethyl
  45. Egyptianjmn
  46. Ancient GreekᾸ̓́μμων (Ắmmōn)
  47. LatinAmmōn
  48. Latinammoniacus
  49. Englishammonia
  50. Englishamine
  51. Englishethylamine
  52. Englishphenethylamine
  53. Englishmethylphenethylamine
  54. Englishalpha-methylphenethylamine
  55. Englishamphetamine
  56. English todaydextroamphetamine

From dextro- + amphetamine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.