What does barbiturate mean?
A barbiturate is any member of a class of drugs that depress the central nervous system, all derived chemically from barbituric acid. First introduced to medicine in the early twentieth century, barbiturates were widely prescribed throughout much of the twentieth century as sleeping pills, anti-anxiety agents, anticonvulsants, and surgical anesthetics. Because they carry a high risk of dependence, tolerance, and fatal overdose — particularly when combined with alcohol — they were gradually replaced in most uses by safer benzodiazepines, though a few, such as phenobarbital and thiopental, remain in specialized medical use today. The word appears chiefly in medical, pharmacological, and forensic writing, and it often evokes the era when these drugs were dispensed casually enough to earn the slang nickname 'dolls.' Understanding barbiturate is useful both for its precise clinical meaning and for its place in the social history of medicine.
nounA barbiturate is any of a class of sedative-hypnotic drugs derived from barbituric acid, used historically as sleeping pills, anesthetics, and anticonvulsants.
- Any of a class of central nervous system depressant drugs derived from barbituric acid, formerly widely prescribed as sedatives, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants.
"The toxicology report detected a lethal dose of barbiturates in her bloodstream."
"Before benzodiazepines arrived, doctors routinely prescribed barbiturates for insomnia and anxiety."
"Phenobarbital, one of the oldest barbiturates, is still used to treat certain types of epilepsy."
The plural is the more common form in practice, since the word usually refers to the class of drugs collectively.
"Barbiturates fell out of favor once their narrow margin of safety became clear."
Barbiturates were once handed out so freely as sleeping pills that they became known as 'dolls' — the slang behind Jacqueline Susann's novel title Valley of the Dolls.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of barbiturate
The word barbiturate derives from barbituric acid, the parent compound synthesized by German chemist Adolf von Baeyer in 1864. The name is traditionally said to have been inspired either by St Barbara's Day, on which Baeyer reportedly first made the compound, or by a woman named Barbara; the exact story is uncertain. Barbiturates themselves entered medical use in the early twentieth century with the introduction of barbital (Veronal) in 1903, and the term has been standard in pharmacology ever since.
Related word forms
How barbiturate is actually used
The word is almost always used in medical, pharmacological, or forensic contexts. Because barbiturates are now rarely prescribed outside specific uses such as anesthesia and epilepsy treatment, the term often carries historical or clinical connotations rather than everyday ones.
Easily confused with barbiturate
Benzodiazepines are a different, generally safer class of sedative drugs that largely replaced barbiturates in medical practice.