benzodiazepine

B3E1N1Z10O1D2I1A1Z10E1P3I1N1E1
/ˌbɛnzoʊdaɪˈæzɪpiːn/

noun

Any of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured upon diazepine, used in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and other related disorders.

Similar
BZDbenzo
OriginEnglish diazepine ← French hepta- ← Ancient Greek ἑπτᾰ́ (heptắ) →
UncommonScrabble 37
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounbenzodiazepine (plural benzodiazepines)

plural benzodiazepines

  1. chemistryAny of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured upon diazepine, used in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and other related disorders.

    His modus operandi was to drug them with wine or tea laced with benzodiazepines, which incapacitated them and wiped out their memories.

    2023 December 21, Anna Moore, “The couch surfing predator: how a group of women were drugged and assaulted - then fought back”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
    1 more example

    That week we were in the desert I couldn't sleep—perhaps a couple of hours each night at the most even with a steady intake of benzodiazepine.

    2023, Bret Easton Ellis, chapter 1, in The Shards

    Synonyms: BZD, benzo

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured upon diazepine, used in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and other related disorders.

Similar
BZDbenzo

Origin

  1. Arabicلُبَان (lubān)
  2. Proto-Indo-European*yew-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*yéwos
  4. Proto-Indo-Iranian*yáwas
  5. Sanskritयव (yava)bor.?
  6. Proto-Austronesian*zawa
  7. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*zawader.?
  8. Old Javanesejawa
  9. Old JavaneseJawi
  10. Javaneseꦗꦮꦶ (jawi)
  11. Arabicجَاوَة (jāwa)
  12. Arabicـِيّ (-iyy)
  13. Arabicجَاوِيّ (jāwiyy)
  14. Arabicلُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy)
  15. Catalanbenjuí
  16. Middle Frenchbenjoin
  17. Englishbenzoin
  18. Englishbenzo-
  19. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  20. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  21. Proto-Hellenic*dwi-
  22. Ancient Greekδῐ- (dĭ-)
  23. Latindi-
  24. Englishdi-
  25. Proto-Indo-European*né
  26. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  27. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  28. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
  29. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  30. Proto-Indo-European*gʷih₃wós
  31. Proto-Indo-European*gʷíh₃weti
  32. Proto-Hellenic*gʷyṓw-ō
  33. Proto-Hellenic*d͏̌ṓwō
  34. Ancient Greekζώω (zṓō)
  35. Ancient Greekζῶ (zô)
  36. Ancient Greekζωή (zōḗ)
  37. Frenchazote
  38. Englishazote
  39. Englishaz-
  40. Proto-Afroasiatic*sṗɣ?
  41. Proto-Semitic*šabʕ-bor.?
  42. Proto-Indo-European*septḿ̥
  43. Proto-Hellenic*heptə́
  44. Ancient Greekἑπτᾰ́ (heptắ)
  45. Frenchhepta-
  46. Englishazepine
  47. Englishdiazepine
  48. Englishbenzodiazepine

From benzo- + diazepine.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan benzodiazepina
  • benzodiazepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Chinese Mandarin 苯二氮䓬
  • 苯二氮䓬 (běn'èrdànzhuó)any of a class of psychoactive drugs
Finnish bentsodiatsepiini
  • bentsodiatsepiiniany of a class of psychoactive drugs
French benzodiazépine
  • benzodiazépineany of a class of psychoactive drugs
German Benzodiazepin
  • Benzodiazepinany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Hungarian benzodiazepin
  • benzodiazepinany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Italian benzodiazepina
  • benzodiazepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Japanese ベンゾジアゼピン
  • ベンゾジアゼピン (benzojiazepin)any of a class of psychoactive drugs
Norwegian Bokmål benzodiazepin
  • benzodiazepinany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Polish benzodiazepina
  • benzodiazepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Portuguese benzodiazepina
  • benzodiazepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Russian бѐнзодиазепи́н
  • бѐнзодиазепи́н (bènzodiazepín)any of a class of psychoactive drugs
Spanish benzodiazepina, benzodiacepina
  • benzodiazepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • benzodiacepinaany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Swedish bensodiazepin, flödder
  • bensodiazepinany of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • flödderany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Turkish benzodiazepin
  • benzodiazepinany of a class of psychoactive drugs
Cite this entry
APA

benzodiazepine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/benzodiazepine

MLA

“benzodiazepine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/benzodiazepine. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “benzodiazepine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/benzodiazepine.

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