sedative

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a drug that calms a person or reduces nervous system activity, sometimes causing sleep

   The doctor prescribed a mild sedative before the procedure.

2. 2
   adj

   having a calming or sleep-inducing effect

   The medicine's sedative effect made driving unsafe.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Sedative, recorded from the late Middle English period, ultimately derives from Latin sedere, “to sit.” Its history belongs to the same word family as seat, sedentary, sediment, and session.

From Middle English and Anglo-Norman sedatif, ultimately from Medieval Latin sedativus, based on Latin sedare, 'to calm or settle.' The medical noun developed from the adjective describing a calming effect.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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