Euthanases

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of bringing about the painless death of an individual to alleviate suffering
2. A method employed, often in a medical context, to end life humanely for those with incurable and painful conditions
3. The process of ending life in a manner that minimizes distress for both the individual and their loved ones

Etymology: "Euthanases" is the third-person singular present form of "euthanase," a verb that means to kill someone painlessly, usually to spare them an incurable and painful illness. The verb is a back-formation: English speakers took the noun "euthanasia" and, reading it as if it were a verb-plus-ending, trimmed it down to create a new verb. Its parent noun comes from Greek "euthanasia," built from "eu," meaning "well" or "good," and "thanatos," meaning "death," so the noun literally means "good death." The verb's close relative "euthanize" follows the same pattern, and the two were formed in the same way. Reading the verb as a plain back-formation is the most useful way to understand it: no one set out to coin a verb, but the noun was used so often in medical and legal discussion that a shorter action word was naturally pulled out of it.

Synonyms: mercy killings, assisted deaths