paraldehyde

2 9.9

A clear liquid medicine that calms people and dissolves chemicals

noun
/ˌpɑːr.əlˈdɛ.haɪd/

Archaic

: paraldehído

Before administering the medication, he explained that paraldehyde can help calm anxious patients.

Examples

Arnold has been giving me Ginger ale doped with Paraldehyde.

Home Before Dark (1958)
There is enough paraldehyde in there to paralyze an elephant.

Blue Sunshine (1977)
I asked that... ...misguided, officious young woman... ...if she would administer my paraldehyde... ...and she demurred.

Bird (1988)
The doctor prescribed paraldehyde as a sedative for the patient before the surgery.
In the laboratory, paraldehyde is commonly used as a solvent for certain chemical reactions.

Synonyms

ethanal trimer

vsparaldehyde

Archaic

9.9

A colorless liquid used to make people calm or sleep and to dissolve other materials

is the common name used especially in medical and chemical contexts

Surface Forms

paraldehyde singular

paraldehydes plural

Morphology

paraldehyde = aldehyde (opaque) = par + aldehyde

The prefix 'par-' is a technical chemical marker indicating a specific polymeric/trimeric form and does not transparently convey meaning to average learners, so the word's meaning cannot be derived from its parts.

Etymology

Paraldehyde comes from the parts para- meaning 'beside' or 'related to', as in parallel, and aldehyde, a chemical name. So, paraldehyde is a 'related' form of aldehyde made by joining three aldehyde molecules, which is why it is used as a special solvent and as a sedative.