a white odourless bitter-tasting crystalline powder related to morphine: a highly addictive narcotic. Formula: C21H23NO5
Technical names: diamorphine, diacetylmorphine
Word origin
C19: coined in German as a trademark, probably from hero, referring to its aggrandizing effect on the personality
diacetylmorphine in American English
(ˌdaiəˌsitlˈmɔrfin, -ˌset-, daiˌæsɪtl-)
noun
Pharmacology
heroin
Word origin
[1870–75; diacetyl + morphine]This word is first recorded in the period 1870–75. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Mafia, Victorian, immobilize, linkage, washout