heroin

noun
/ˈhɛɹoʊ.ɪn//hɛəɹoʊ.ɪn/CA

Etymology

Since the 1890s, from German Heroin, originally a trademark, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”) and the suffix -in (“-ine”). Said to have been called thus to evoke quick and sweeping effect as a painkiller and cough suppressant (its original uses). Alternatively explained as a reference to the heroic school of medicine.

  1. derived from ἥρως
  2. borrowed from Heroin

Definitions

  1. A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as…

    A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as an illegal narcotic in most of the world.

    • Wow, that heroin is in my blood / And the blood is in my head / Yeah, thank God that I'm good as dead / Ooohhh, thank your God that I'm not aware / And thank God that I just don't care / And I guess I just don't know
    • I saw a real strange, weird object / Standing up talking to the people / And I found out it was heroin / That deadly drug that go in your veins
  2. Obsolete spelling of heroine.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at heroin. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01heroin02opium03alkaloids04alkaloid05alkali06brown

A definitional loop anchored at heroin. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

6 hops · closes at heroin

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA