Antipsychotic

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A class of pharmaceuticals designed to treat various mental health conditions by lessening severe symptoms such as hallucinations and mood disturbances
2. Medications intended to alleviate psychotic symptoms and enhance emotional stability in individuals with psychiatric disorders
3. A drug used to reduce symptoms of psychotic disorders such as hallucinations and delusions

Etymology: The prefix "anti-" is the Greek "anti", meaning "against" or "opposite to", which English took up as a productive element for forming words. Attached to "psychotic", it describes a drug that works against psychosis, the condition of losing contact with reality through hallucinations, delusions or disordered thinking. "Psychotic" itself comes from "psychosis", a term built from Greek "psykhē", meaning "soul" or "mind", plus a suffix for a diseased or abnormal state. The combination is a modern coinage: it was built from classical parts to name a class of drugs, not something ancient physicians used. The word is a plain compound, with nothing hidden in its history beyond the parts it joins.