Standard Lemma guide

benzodiazepine

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌbɛnzoʊdaɪˈæzɪpiːn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B EH2 N Z OW0 D IY0 AE1 Z AH0 P IY0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a class of psychoactive drugs, structured upon diazepine, used in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia and other related disorders.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, medicine, natural-sciences, organic-chemistry, pharmacology, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: BZD, benzo

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of several similar lipophilic amines used as tranquilizers or sedatives or hypnotics or muscle relaxants; chronic use can lead to dependency

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: minor tranquilizer, minor tranquillizer, minor tranquilliser, antianxiety drug, anxiolytic, anxiolytic drug, muscle relaxant

Narrower terms: alprazolam, Xanax, chlordiazepoxide, Librium, Libritabs, diazepam, Valium, estazolam, ProSom, lorazepam, Ativan, midazolam, Versed, nitrazepam, temazepam, Restoril, triazolam, Halcion

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Arabic لُبَان (lubān) Proto-Indo-European *yew- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *yéwos Proto-Indo-Iranian *yáwas Sanskrit यव (yava)bor.? Proto-Austronesian *zawa Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *zawader.? Old Javanese jawa Old Javanese -i Old Javanese Jawi Javanese ꦗꦮꦶ (jawi)der. Arabic جَاوَة (jāwa) Proto-Afroasiatic Proto-Semitic Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy) Arabic جَاوِيّ (jāwiyy) Arabic لُبَان جَاوِيّ (lubān jāwiyy)bor. Catalan benjuíder. Middle French benjoinder. English benzoin English benzo- Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Hellenic *dwi- Ancient Greek δῐ- (dĭ-)bor. Latin di-bor. English di- Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ᾰ̓- (ă-) Proto-Indo-European *gweyh3- Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *gwih3wós Proto-Indo-European *gwíh3weti Proto-Hellenic *gwyṓw-ō Proto-Hellenic *ďṓwō Ancient Greek ζώω (zṓō) Ancient Greek ζῶ (zô) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek ζωή (zōḗ) French azotebor. English azote English az- Proto-Afroasiatic *sṗɣ? Proto-Semitic *šabʕ-bor.? Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ Proto-Hellenic *heptə́ Ancient Greek ἑπτᾰ́ (heptắ)der. French hepta- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnus French -in Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-eh2 Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -am Old French -e French -e French -ine English -epine English azepine English diazepine English benzodiazepine From benzo- + diazepine.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: benzodiazepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Chinese Mandarin: 苯二氮䓬 (běn'èrdànzhuó) — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Finnish: bentsodiatsepiini — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • French: benzodiazépine — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • German: Benzodiazepin — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Hungarian: benzodiazepin — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Italian: benzodiazepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Japanese: ベンゾジアゼピン (benzojiazepin) — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Norwegian Bokmål: benzodiazepin — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Polish: benzodiazepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Portuguese: benzodiazepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Russian: бѐнзодиазепи́н (bènzodiazepín) — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Spanish: benzodiazepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Spanish: benzodiacepina — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Swedish: bensodiazepin — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Swedish: flödder — any of a class of psychoactive drugs
  • Turkish: benzodiazepin — any of a class of psychoactive drugs