Narcotist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person skilled in the therapeutic application of narcotic drugs for treatment purposes
2. An expert who utilizes narcotics in a clinical setting to relieve pain and manage patient care
3. Someone who administers narcotic medications as part of medical treatment to alleviate pain

Etymology: The Greek root "narke" meant "numbness," and it was also the name for the electric ray, a fish that stuns its prey with a shock. Greek physicians built "narkotikos," meaning "benumbing," from the verb "narkoun," "to make numb." That sense of deadening sensation passed through Late Latin "narcoticus" into English, where "narcotic" came to mean any drug that dulls pain or induces sleep. "Narcotist" is simply "narcotic" plus the suffix "-ist," which marks a practitioner or specialist, as in "dentist" or "pianist." The word therefore names someone who works with such drugs in medicine.