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Origin and history of codeine

codeine(n.)

"white crystalline alkaloid present in opium," 1838, codeina, from French codéine, coined, with chemical suffix -ine (2), from Greek kodeia "poppy head," related to koos "prison," literally "hollow place;" kodon "bell, mouth of a trumpet;" koilos "hollow, hollowed out, spacious, deep," all from PIE root *keue- "to swell," also "vault, hole." Modern form is from 1881.

Entries linking to codeine

from (hydr)oxy(l) + codeine. Developed 1916 in Germany; introduced in U.S. 1939.

word-forming element in chemistry, often interchangeable with -in (2), though modern use distinguishes them; early 19c., from French -ine, the suffix commonly used to form words for derived substances, hence its extended use in chemistry. It was applied unsystematically at first (as in aniline), but now has more restricted use.

The French suffix is from Latin -ina, fem. form of -inus, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, and thus is identical with -ine (1).

*keuə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to swell," also "vault, hole."

It might form all or part of: accumulate; accumulation; cave; cavern; cavity; celiac; church; codeine; coelacanth; coeliac; coelomate; concave; cumulate; cumulative; cumulus; enceinte; excavate; kirk; kymatology; Kyrie eleison.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit svayati "swells up, is strong;" Greek kyein "to swell," koilos "hollow, hollowed out, spacious, deep;" Latin cumulus "a heap, pile, mass, surplus;" Lithuanian šaunas "firm, solid, fit, capable;" Middle Irish cua "hollow;" Armenian soyl "cavity."

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