vasorelaxant
|va-so-re-lax-ant|
🇺🇸
/ˌveɪzoʊrɪˈlæk.sənt/
🇬🇧
/ˌveɪzəʊrɪˈlæk.sənt/
relaxes blood vessels
Etymology
'vasorelaxant' originates from a modern medical formation combining the combining form 'vaso-' (from Latin 'vas, vasis') and 'relaxant' (from Latin 'relaxare'), where 'vas-' meant 'vessel' and 'relaxare' meant 'to loosen/relax'.
'vaso-' developed from Latin 'vas' → New Latin combining form 'vaso-'; 'relaxant' comes from Latin 'relaxare' → French 'relaxant' → English 'relaxant'; these elements were combined in modern medical English to form 'vasorelaxant'.
Initially the components meant 'vessel' and 'to loosen/relax', and over time the compound came to mean specifically 'an agent that relaxes blood vessels'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a drug or agent that relaxes vascular smooth muscle, producing vasodilation and often lowering blood pressure.
The new vasorelaxant showed promising results in lowering blood pressure.
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Adjective 1
causing or producing relaxation of blood vessels (used attributively, e.g., a vasorelaxant effect).
Researchers observed a vasorelaxant response in the isolated artery sample.
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Last updated: 2025/10/27 04:06