Oxyphenbutazone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug formerly prescribed to relieve pain and swelling caused by arthritis and similar joint conditions
2. A pharmaceutical compound from the phenylbutazone family used to reduce inflammation and ease painful inflammatory disorders
3. An anti-inflammatory medication that was once given to people and animals to lessen joint pain, stiffness and swelling

Etymology: Oxyphenbutazone is a pharmaceutical coinage, named by its chemical structure rather than drawn from an older word. "Oxy" marks the extra oxygen atom, a hydroxyl group added to the molecule. "Phen" refers to the phenyl rings it shares with its parent, and "-butazone" comes from phenylbutazone, the anti-inflammatory drug it is derived from. Read together, the name tells a chemist to start from phenylbutazone and add an oxygen. Because the word was built for a chemical description, it never passed through everyday speech, so there is no earlier sense to trace. The drug was used against pain and inflammation, including arthritis, before it was withdrawn from human use in many countries because of serious blood-related side effects.