What does cocainise mean?
Cocainise is a chiefly British verb meaning to numb or anaesthetise a part of the body by applying cocaine. In late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century medicine, before modern synthetic local anaesthetics such as procaine became available, cocaine was the standard topical agent for numbing mucous membranes during eye, ear, nose, and throat procedures, and doctors spoke of cocainising the area before operating. The American spelling is cocainize, following the usual -ize/-ise split between US and British usage. Today the word is rare and mostly historical or technical in register, appearing mainly in older medical literature and histories of anaesthesia. It can also be used figuratively, though uncommonly, to describe something that dulls or stupefies people as if they were under the drug's influence. Its rarity gives it a distinctly period flavour.
verbTo treat or anaesthetise a part of the body with cocaine; to render insensitive using cocaine as an anaesthetic.
- To apply cocaine to a part of the body to produce local anaesthesia.
- (Rarely, figurative) To stupefy or deaden as if with cocaine.
"The surgeon cocainised the nasal passages before the procedure."
"The doctor cocainised the patient's throat before inserting the endoscope."
"Critics argued that cheap entertainment had cocainised the public into passive indifference."
Before synthetic local anaesthetics like novocaine existed, surgeons literally used cocaine itself to numb patients — and "cocainise" was the word for it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cocainise
Cocainise derives from "cocaine", which entered English in the 1860s from German Kokain, ultimately from coca, the name of the Andean plant Erythroxylum coca whose leaves contain the alkaloid. The suffix -ise forms verbs meaning "to treat with", on the same pattern as words like anaesthetise. The verb arose in medical writing in the decades after cocaine's anaesthetic properties were identified in the 1880s.
How cocainise is actually used
Chiefly British spelling; American English uses "cocainize". The verb is now rare and largely historical, since safer local anaesthetics have replaced medical use of cocaine.
Easily confused with cocainise
"Cocainize" is the American spelling and pronunciation of the same verb, while "cocainise" is the British variant.