"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Thursday, 26 March 2009

Anodyne

An anodyne (Greek αν, loss, and οδυνη, pain: a cause which relieves pain) is a medicine that relieves or soothes pain by lessening the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system. Also called an analgesic (or colloquially a "painkiller").

This should not be confused with the French adjective anodin(e) which means harmless, innocuous, insignificant, or trivial. I made that comment because I am forever confusing them though why anyone else should do so I don't know.
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1 comment:

  1. The Archduchess26 March 2009 at 01:51

    When I saw the title, I thought "Oh, they have that word in English too!"

    And then I read the post.

    I stand corrected.

    ReplyDelete

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