Advertisement

calmative (adj.)

"quieting excessive action," by 1831, from French calmatif; see calm (adj.) + -ative. A Greek-Latin hybrid; purists prefer sedative, but OED writes that "The Latinic suffix is here defensible on the ground of It. and Sp. calmar, F. calmer ...." Also as a noun, "a quieting drug" (1847).

Others are reading

Advertisement