What does tranquillizer mean?
Tranquillizer, spelled tranquilizer in US English, is a count noun for a substance, especially a drug, that reduces nervous activity and induces calm, sedation, or sleep. In medicine and veterinary practice, it may refer more broadly to a sedating agent given before or during a procedure. The word can also denote an implement used to inject such a substance, most often in the established expressions “tranquillizer gun” and “tranquillizer dart.” Its ordinary implications are therapeutic and calming, although fictional and colloquial uses often turn the idea into a weapon or a comic device for forcibly quieting someone. A tranquillizer is not a separate word from a tranquilizer; these are spelling variants of the same term. The vocabulary is useful because it can name both the calming substance and, in extended senses, the means of administering it, while retaining the idea of tranquility encoded in its Latin root.
nounA drug or other substance that calms the nervous system and induces a state of reduced activity, relaxation, or sleep. By extension, it can mean an implement used to inject such a substance, especially a tranquillizer gun or dart.
- A substance, especially a drug, that reduces nervous activity and produces a calming, sedative, or sleep-inducing effect.
- An implement designed to inject or fire a calming drug, typically in the expressions tranquillizer gun and tranquillizer dart.
"The veterinarian administered a mild tranquillizer before examining the frightened dog."
"The doctor gave him a tranquillizer to keep him calm during the procedure."
"The tranquilizer dart struck the target, leaving the guard unconscious within seconds."
The standard regular plural retains the British doubled-l spelling.
"The laboratory stores several tranquillizers for use in emergency treatment."
From calming medicine to tranquilizer darts: one word can describe both the substance that induces calm and the device that delivers it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tranquillizer come from?
The English word appeared in the early 19th century as an agent noun formed from “tranquillize” and the suffix -er. Tranquillize derives from the English adjective tranquil, which was borrowed from Latin tranquillus, meaning “calm” or “undisturbed.” The British spelling retains the doubled l, while US English normally uses tranquilizer. English relatives sharing the Latin root include tranquil, tranquillity, and tranquillization.
How tranquillizer is actually used
The term is most common in medical, veterinary, and legal contexts, but it also appears in fiction and informal speech. British English conventionally uses the doubled l in tranquillizer, whereas US English generally prefers tranquilizer.
Easily confused with tranquillizer
Tranquillizer and tranquilizer are spelling variants of the same word; the doubled l is standard in British English, while the single-l form is most common in US English.