heroin en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈhɛɹoʊ.ɪn/
- /hɛəɹoʊ.ɪn/ (Canada, US)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Since the 1890s, by genericization from German Heroin, originally a trademark, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”) and the suffix -in (“-ine”). Said to have been called thus to evoke quick and sweeping effect as a painkiller and cough suppressant (its original uses). Alternatively explained as a reference to the heroic school of medicine.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as an illegal narcotic in most of the world.
Wow, that heroin is in my blood / And the blood is in my head / Yeah, thank God that I'm good as dead / Ooohhh, thank your God that I'm not aware / And thank God that I just don't care / And I guess I just don't know
1967, “Heroin”, in Lou Reed (music), The Velvet Underground & Nico, performed by The Velvet Underground:Yeah, it does, though, it does. Heroin works basically everywhere because it’s heroin. It’s not a cellphone. Heroin has full coverage.
2016, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Opiods”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 27, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:I saw a real strange, weird object / Standing up talking to the people / And I found out it was heroin / That deadly drug that go in your veins
1972, “King Heroin”, in Manny Rosen (lyrics), There It Is, performed by James Brown:Okay, wel-, I’ll tell you where it stops: somewhere! Anytime someone asks, “Where does it stop?”, the answer is always fucking somewhere! You might let your kid have Twizzlers, but not inject black tar heroin! You d-You don’t just go, “Well, after the Twizzlers, where does it stop?”!
2017, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Confederacy”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 26, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:The reason why Jon & Kate Plus 8 is such a hot topic is because it might all be a sham. It’s been claimed that Jon has a string of mistresses, that Kate had an affair with her bodyguard and that Baby Number Six is actually a shaved Ewok with a catastrophic heroin addiction. Or something.
2009 May 22, Stuart Heritage, “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”, in Hecklerspray, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2024:That’s because the second thing to know about Games Workshop is, as Gillen says, that Warhammer was what middle-class nerds did instead of heroin. It was just as expensive, and probably no better for your social life.
2019 January 21, Alex Hern, “‘Heroin for middle-class nerds’: how Warhammer conquered gaming”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2019:Fentanyl, which looks like heroin, is a powerful synthetic painkiller that has been laced into heroin but is increasingly being sold by itself — often without the user’s knowledge.
2016 March 25, Katharine Q. Seelye, “Heroin Epidemic Is Yielding to a Deadlier Cousin: Fentanyl”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2021:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| heroine | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| heroins | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
black tar heroin · brown heroin · heroinlike · antiheroin · heroinware · heroinomaniac · heroin chic · hillbilly heroin · heroinomania · heroinism
Hypernyms
street drug · narcotic · recreational drug · opiate · opioid
Relateds
Synonyms
H (street names) · dog food · train (street names) · smack (street names) · Big H (street names) · diacetylmorphine · dugee · yam yam (street names) · brown sugar · spider · diacetylmorphine (chemical names) · smack · white lady · mud · dope (street names) · junk (street names) · shit (street names) · skag (street names) · horse (street names) · ron · heroin · sugar · diamorphine (chemical names) · muck · diamorphine · scag · henry · whiteboy · boy (street names) · brown (street names) · Ron (street names) · bujj (street names)
Translations (66)
sv heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · ar هِيرُويْن (powerful and addictive drug) · ja ヘロイン (powerful and addictive drug) · cs heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · sk heroín (powerful and addictive drug) · vi bạch phiến (powerful and addictive drug) · az heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · km ហេរ៉ូអ៊ីន (powerful and addictive drug) · ka ჰეროინი (powerful and addictive drug) · de Heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · da heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · it eroina (powerful and addictive drug) · sh херо̀ӣн (powerful and addictive drug) · ru герои́н (powerful and addictive drug) · th เฮโรอีน (powerful and addictive drug) · yue 四仔 (powerful and addictive drug) · sh heròīn (powerful and addictive drug) · hu heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · cmn 白麵兒 /白面儿 (powerful and addictive drug) · mr हेरोइन (powerful and addictive drug) · tr eroin (powerful and addictive drug) · sl heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · lt heroinas (powerful and addictive drug) · fi heroiini (powerful and addictive drug) · be гераі́н (powerful and addictive drug) · ga héaróin (powerful and addictive drug) · yue 海洛英 (powerful and addictive drug) · bg хероин (powerful and addictive drug) · pl heroina (powerful and addictive drug) · eu heroina (powerful and addictive drug) · cmn 白粉 (powerful and addictive drug) · fo heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · lv heroīns (powerful and addictive drug) · nl heroïne (powerful and addictive drug) · io heroeno (powerful and addictive drug) · fa هروئین (powerful and addictive drug) · no heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · ro heroină (powerful and addictive drug) · ca heroïna (powerful and addictive drug) · pt heroína (powerful and addictive drug) · ko 헤로인 (powerful and addictive drug) · el ηρωίνη (powerful and addictive drug) · fr héroïne (powerful and addictive drug) · he הרואין (powerful and addictive drug) · is heróín (powerful and addictive drug) · uk герої́н (powerful and addictive drug) · hy հերոին (powerful and addictive drug) · sq heroina (powerful and addictive drug) · ast heroína (powerful and addictive drug) · gl heroína (powerful and addictive drug) · pt cavalo (powerful and addictive drug) · eo heroino (powerful and addictive drug) · es caballo (powerful and addictive drug) · et heroiin (powerful and addictive drug) · es heroína (powerful and addictive drug) · nn heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · cmn 海洛因 (powerful and addictive drug) · sw heroini (powerful and addictive drug) · yue 灰 (powerful and addictive drug) · yue 粉 (powerful and addictive drug) · mk херои́н (powerful and addictive drug) · yue 白粉 (powerful and addictive drug) · cy heroin (powerful and addictive drug) · hi हेरोइन (powerful and addictive drug) · la heroinum (powerful and addictive drug) · ur ہیروئین (powerful and addictive drug)