Etherise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To render a person unconscious or insensible by giving them the vapour of ether as an anaesthetic
2. To put someone under a deep sleep for surgery by having them breathe in ether fumes
3. To numb or stupefy a patient with the anaesthetic gas ether before an operation

Etymology: "Etherise" is a verb meaning to numb someone with an anaesthetic, and its story runs straight through the substance that gave it its name. Ether was first isolated in the early 1500s, when the Swiss-German physician Paracelsus described a sweet-smelling liquid made from sulphuric acid and alcohol, and it was not until the 1840s that its power to dull pain was put to surgical use. Its name, though, comes from much older Greek, where "aither" meant the upper air or pure sky that the gods were thought to breathe. The verb itself is a plain formation: the noun "ether" with the suffix "-ise", the same ending found in words like "organise" and "modernise", which turns a noun into a verb meaning to treat with or make into that substance. To etherise a patient was to put them under with ether vapour, so the word describes a medical procedure as directly as its parts suggest.

Synonyms: anaesthetise, anesthetize, sedate

Antonyms: awaken, revive