Standard Lemma guide

diethylstilbestrol

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

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  • General-American: /daɪˌɛθ.əl.stɪlˈbɛˌstɹɔl/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A synthetic estrogen drug C18H20O2 used formerly to prevent miscarriage or premature delivery in humans and to promote growth in livestock. The medical use of diethystilbestrol was discontinued in the U.S. during the early 1970s due to its association with serious side effects (such as reproductive tract abnormalities and increased rates of infertility) in offspring exposed to the drug while developing in the uterus. It is no longer commercially available in the U.S. and its use is currently limited to specially compounded formulations for veterinary care.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stilbestrol

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a potent estrogen used in medicine and in feed for livestock and poultry

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: diethylstilboestrol, stilbestrol, stilboestrol, DES

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: estrogen, oestrogen

History

Etymology

From diethyl + stilb(ene) + -estr- (“estrogen”) + -ol.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 己烯雌酚 (jǐxīcífēn) — estrogen drug