Anxiolytics
/ˌæŋk.si.oʊˈlɪt.ɪks/noun
Medications or other agents used to reduce anxiety.
Did you know?The second half, Greek lytikos, means “able to loosen,” linking anxiolytics to words such as analysis and dialysis, which also contain the idea of separation or release.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*angh-
“To compress, constrict, or make tight”
Ancient Greek
Greek
λύσις (lysis)
“A loosening, release, or dissolution”
Classical Latin
Latin
anxius
“Troubled, distressed, or mentally constricted”
17th Century
English
anxiety
“A state of uneasiness or distress, borrowed through French and Latin”
20th Century
English
anxiolytic
“An agent that relieves anxiety, formed from anxiety plus Greek-derived -lytic”
Modern English
English
anxiolytics
“Plural of anxiolytic: substances used to reduce anxiety”