Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

veronal en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Former trade name, after the Italian city Verona.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) A barbiturate, used formerly to induce sleep.
    • He was by now so worn out that he could not resist my firmness. I gave him a sufficient dose of veronal to insure his unconsciousness for several hours. I thought that was the best service I could render him. 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 29, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
    • I have seen the Brazilian press photograph of Zweig and Lotte, his second wife, lying dead of their overdoses of veronal on two pushed-together single iron bedsteads, he on his back, mouth a little agape, in a sweat-stained shirt and knitted tie, she on his shoulder in a floral wrap and clean hair, and you can practically hear the ceiling fan going round. 2010 January 28, Michael Hofmann, “Vermicular Dither”, in London Review of Books, volume 32, number 02, →ISSN:
    • She died of an overdose of veronal. She's been taking it lately for sleeplessness. Must have taken too much. 1926, Agatha Christie, chapter 1, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:

Deriveds

veronalism

Synonyms

diethylbarbituric acid · diethylmalonyl urea · barbital · barbitol

Translations (3)

ga vearónach (barbiturate) · ru верона́л (barbiturate) · es veronal (barbiturate)