antiepileptic drug
1
4.1
- noun
- /ˌæn.ti.ˌɛp.ɪˈlɛp.tɪk drʌg/
- Specialized
:
medicamento antiepiléptico
- Doctors often prescribe antiepileptic drugs to help prevent seizures in patients with epilepsy.
Examples
-
Although there is a list of essential medications, including antipsychotics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antiepileptic drugs, there seems to be a shortage.
Academic text (2018) -
Antiepileptic drugs block or prevent seizures by interfering with the mechanism of their production.
Blog text (8) -
Experts say that some people with depression and anxiety benefit from mood stabilizers like lithium, antipsychotic drugs, and antiepileptic drugs on top of their antidepressants.
Blog text (28) -
The patient began taking an antiepileptic drug to control their frequent seizures.
-
After trying several treatments, she found that an antiepileptic drug worked best for managing her condition.
Synonyms
2
5.5
A drug that prevents or reduces seizures
A drug that prevents or controls seizures in people with epilepsy
A medicine that prevents or reduces seizures in people with epilepsy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'antiepileptic' (against epilepsy / relating to preventing seizures) combined with 'drug' (a medicine) yields the meaning 'a medicine used to treat or prevent seizures.' Medical compound nouns of this type are cross-linguistically transparent and follow regular morphological patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to understand it.
Etymology
Antiepileptic drug is made of anti meaning 'against', epileptic from 'epilepsy' the condition that causes 'seizures', and drug meaning medicine, so it literally means a medicine that fights seizures. That's why today antiepileptic drug means 'a drug used to treat or prevent seizures'.