Dihydromorphine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A semi-synthetic opioid medication produced by the chemical reduction of morphine, used in some countries for pain relief and cough suppression
2. An opioid analgesic created by adding hydrogen atoms to the morphine molecule, employed therapeutically in certain regions for moderate to severe pain management
3. A hydrogenated derivative of morphine functioning as an opioid pain reliever and cough suppressant in medical applications in select jurisdictions

Etymology: Dihydromorphine is a chemical name built plainly from three parts: "di-" (two), "hydro-" (hydrogen), and "morphine." Morphine itself takes its name from Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, because of its sleep-inducing effects. Dihydromorphine is the morphine molecule with two extra hydrogen atoms added, which saturates a double bond in its structure. The name follows the systematic logic of chemical nomenclature, where prefixes describe what has been added or changed to a parent compound.