acetaminophen

A1C3E1T1A1M3I1N1O1P3H4E1N1
/əˌsitəˈmɪnəfən/

noun

A white crystalline compound used in medicine as an anodyne to relieve pain and reduce fever.

Similar
Less commonScrabble 22

Meanings

nounacetaminophen (plural acetaminophens)

plural acetaminophens

  1. CanadaUSA white crystalline compound used in medicine as an anodyne to relieve pain and reduce fever.

    You need to take acetaminophen / Or just a little aspirin / acetylsalicylic for the pain

    1997, “The Druggist”, Joel Mabus (music)
    2 more examples

    “I [have] actually witnessed a resident have to be taken to the emergency room because of acetaminophen toxicity,” Lee recalls. “I was pushed to find a solution because I wanted to help the residents who I volunteer for.”

    2025 March 28, Ella Jeffries, “This 17-Year-Old Scientist Is Making an Acetaminophen Alternative That Is Less Damaging to the Liver”, in Smithsonian Magazine, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2025

    Top U.S. health officials urged pregnant women not to use acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, claiming it could cause autism, though studies have been inconclusive.

    2025 September 22, Azeen Ghorayshi, “Trump Issues Warning Based on Unproven Link Between Tylenol and Autism”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Sep 2025

    Synonyms: paracetamol, para-acetylaminophenol, tylenol

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA white crystalline compound used in medicine as an anodyne to relieve pain and reduce fever.

More synonyms by meaning

nounan analgesic for mild pain but not for inflammation; also used as an antipyretic; (Datril, Tylenol, Panadol, Phenaphen, Tempra, and Anacin III are trademarks of brands of acetaminophen tablets)

Similar
DatrilTylenolPanadolPhenaphenTempraAnacin III

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

A shortening of the chemical name para-acetylaminophenol. By surface analysis, acet- + amino- + -phen.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan paracetamol, acetaminofèn
  • paracetamoldrug
  • acetaminofèndrug
Chinese Cantonese 對乙酰氨基酚 /对乙酰氨基酚
  • 對乙酰氨基酚 /对乙酰氨基酚 (deoi³ jyut³ sin¹ on¹ gei¹ fan¹)drug
Chinese Mandarin 撲熱息痛 /扑热息痛, 對乙酰氨基酚 /对乙酰氨基酚
  • 撲熱息痛 /扑热息痛 (pūrèxītòng, pūrèxítòng)drug
  • 對乙酰氨基酚 /对乙酰氨基酚 (duìyǐxiān'ānjīfēn)drug
  • 乙醯胺酚 (yǐxī'ānfēn)drug
Czech paracetamol
  • paracetamoldrug
Dutch paracetamol, calpol
  • paracetamoldrug
  • calpoldrug
Finnish parasetamoli
  • parasetamolidrug
French paracétamol, acétaminophène
  • paracétamoldrug
  • acétaminophènedrug
German Paracetamol
  • Paracetamoldrug
Indonesian parasetamol, asetaminofen
  • parasetamoldrug
  • asetaminofendrug
Italian paracetamolo
  • paracetamolodrug
Japanese アセトアミノフェン, パラセタモール
  • アセトアミノフェン (asetoaminofen)drug
  • パラセタモール (parasetamōru)drug
Korean 아세트아미노펜
  • 아세트아미노펜 (aseteuaminopen)drug
Malay parasetamol
  • parasetamoldrug
Polish acetaminofen, paracetamol
  • acetaminofendrug
  • paracetamoldrug
  • tylenoldrug
  • apapdrug
Portuguese paracetamol
  • paracetamoldrug
Romanian paracetamol
  • paracetamoldrug
Russian парацетамо́л
  • парацетамо́л (paracetamól)drug
Spanish acetaminofén m paracetamol
  • acetaminofén m paracetamoldrug
Swedish paracetamol
  • paracetamoldrug
Thai พาราเซตามอล
  • พาราเซตามอล (paa-raa-see-dtaa-mɔ̂n)drug
Turkish parasetamol
  • parasetamoldrug
Cite this entry
APA

acetaminophen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acetaminophen

MLA

“acetaminophen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acetaminophen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acetaminophen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acetaminophen.

Source: acetaminophen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.