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Glite Dictionary
diethylbarbituric acid

diethylbarbituric acid

9.9
A medicine doctors use to help people sleep
  • noun
  • /ˌdaɪˈɛθəlˌbɑːrbɪˈtjʊrɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Archaic
translation icon : ácido dietilbarbitúrico
  • After several sleepless nights, the doctor prescribed diethylbarbituric acid to help her rest.

Examples

  • The doctor prescribed diethylbarbituric acid for insomnia.

  • Overuse of diethylbarbituric acid can lead to dependence and tolerance in some patients.

  • After several sleepless nights, the doctor prescribed diethylbarbituric acid to help her rest.

  • Researchers are studying alternatives to diethylbarbituric acid for safer treatment of insomnia.

  • Many patients find diethylbarbituric acid effective for sleep.

  • The doctor prescribed diethylbarbituric acid to treat her insomnia effectively.

  • Many patients find that diethylbarbituric acid helps them fall asleep more easily.

Synonyms

barbiturate
vsdiethylbarbituric acid
  • Specialized
12 9.0

A drug that makes you sleep or feel very calm and can cause death if you take too much

is one specific chemical within the drug class used to induce sleep medically
diethylmalonylurea
vsdiethylbarbituric acid
  • Archaic
9.9

A drug used to help people sleep

is framed as the medically used compound rather than the general chemical label

Surface Forms

diethylbarbituric acid singular
diethylbarbituric acids plural

Morphology

diethylbarbituric + acid

The form is compositionally built from chemical morphemes (diethyl- + barbituric + acid), so a learner who knows the parts would infer it is a chemical/acid. However, recognizing that it denotes a barbiturate hypnotic requires specialized pharmacological knowledge (and the constituent 'diethylbarbituric' is not a common B1-level lexical item), so the specific sense 'sleep-inducing drug' is not predictable from everyday word knowledge. This yields partial transparency: chemical identity is clear but the pharmacological meaning is not.

Etymology

Diethylbarbituric acid is a chemical name that gives a simple picture: diethyl means 'two' small parts called 'ethyl', and barbituric acid names a group of old sleep-making medicines. So the full name shows it is a drug used to help people sleep.