Asphyxiants

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A category of agents known to induce suffocation by either displacing oxygen from the air or reducing its availability to the body
2. Substances that can lead to unconsciousness and possible death by causing a lack of oxygen in the environment or within inhaled air
3. Agents that cause a lack of oxygen, leading to suffocation or impaired breathing

Etymology: "Asphyxiants" is the plural of "asphyxiant," a noun for a substance that suffocates or causes asphyxia. The singular form is the one that carries the meaning, and the plural simply names more than one such substance. The root behind the word is the Greek "asphyxia," meaning "stopping of the pulse" or "lack of pulse," formed from "a-" ("without") and "sphyxis" ("pulse"). Ancient Greek physicians used the idea of a stopped pulse to describe a person who appeared to have died, so the link to breath came later, as the condition came to be understood as suffocation.