Anaesthetization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The procedure of making an individual insensible to sensation through pharmacological means occurs frequently in medical settings and aims to alleviate pain during interventions
2. The act of administering medications to remove sensation from a person takes place mainly in healthcare environments to facilitate pain-free medical procedures
3. The act or process of rendering someone unable to feel pain or sensations typically by using drugs or gases

Etymology: Anaesthetization is a plain formation: the verb "anaesthetize" with the suffix "-ation" added to turn an action into a noun for the action itself. The verb is built from "anaesthesia," the word coined in Greek-derived form in the 1840s to describe the loss of sensation produced by inhaled agents such as ether and chloroform. Its base is the Greek "an-," meaning "without," and "aisthesis," meaning "sensation" or "perception," so the whole idea is literally "without feeling." The suffix has a longer road. It descends from Latin "-tio," which formed nouns of action, passed through Old French "-ation," and entered Middle English as "-aciun" before settling into the form English uses today. That same ending turns countless verbs into nouns, from "creation" to "examination," so the new word follows an old and well-worn pattern.

Synonyms: anesthesia, numbing