Oxymetholone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A synthetic anabolic steroid prescribed to stimulate red blood cell production in patients with certain types of anemia
2. A man-made androgen related to testosterone, used medically to treat anemia and sometimes misused to build muscle mass
3. A powerful oral steroid drug that boosts blood cell formation and is employed clinically against anemic conditions

Etymology: Oxymetholone is a chemist's coinage, built from pieces of Greek rather than from any older word. Its name is a blend of two chemical terms: "hydroxymethylidene," a fragment describing a hydroxyl group attached to a methylidene unit, and "mestanolone," the name of another anabolic steroid. Blending the two produced a single name that tells a chemist which molecular groups the drug carries. The first part traces back to ancient Greek. "Hydro-" comes from "hudōr," meaning water, and "oxy-" from "oxys," meaning sharp or acid. The "-gen" element comes from "genos," meaning birth or kind, a root that chemists later used for elements such as oxygen and hydrogen. The "methyl" element is older still in chemical naming, drawing on "methu," the Greek word for wine, because it was first isolated from wood alcohol.

Synonyms: Anadrol