GC: n
S: NCBI (last access: 19 November 2025); MEDLP (last access: 19 November 2025).
N: 1. White crystalline compound that acts as a powerful stimulant to the nervous system, 1949, from “methyl” + “amphetamine”; so called because it was a methyl derivative of amphetamine, also from 1949.
- The earliest known use of the noun methamphetamine is in the 1940s.
- OED’s earliest evidence for methamphetamine is from 1949, in Journal of American Medical Association.
- methamphetamine is formed within English, by compounding.
- Etymons: methyl n., amphetamine n.
2. methamphetamine, slso known as: Desoxyn, Methedrine, Pervitin, crank, crystal meth, d-desoxyephedrine, ice, meth, speed.
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methamphetamine, potent and addictive synthetic stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system (the spinal cord and brain). Methamphetamine is prescribed for the treatment of certain medical conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. In the United States it is marketed under the brand name Desoxyn.
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Methamphetamine increases physical activity and suppresses appetite. Heavy or prolonged use may produce powerful side effects, including aggression and paranoia, kidney and lung disorders, brain and liver damage, chronic depression, immune deficiency disorders, convulsions, and schizophrenia. As a recreational drug, methamphetamine may be taken in pill form or, as a crystalline powder (“crystal meth”), sniffed through a hollow tube; it may also be taken intravenously.
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Methamphetamine was used as a stimulant, under the name Pervitin, by German soldiers during World War II. Disturbing side effects, including a general worsening in physical condition and acute circulatory disorders, led to a decline in its use by German troops by 1940. In Japan in the 1940s and ’50s, industrial workers used methamphetamine to increase their productivity. By the 1960s in the United States, methamphetamine was viewed with deep suspicion and hostility, not only by law-enforcement officials, politicians, the media, and medical professionals but also by large sections of the drug subculture. After the Controlled Substances Act (1970) severely restricted its availability, a large illicit manufacturing industry relying on hundreds of clandestine “meth labs” arose in the Southwest and West and, in the 1990s, spread to parts of the Midwest. Despite periodic police crackdowns, large quantities of the drug were produced in these labs. Methamphetamine abuse also became particularly widespread in Pacific Rim countries, where it emerged as a serious social problem.
3. Medication; Drugs and Drug Addiction: methamphetamine, desoxyephedrine, speed.
- A sympathomimetic amine that is a structural analog of amphetamine. It is used as a general central nervous system stimulant.
4. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention Breaking Bad, the TV Series 2008-2013 created by Vince Gilligan.
- A chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with a former student to secure his family’s future.
S: 1. Etymonline (last access: 19 November 2025); OED (last access: 19 November 2025). 2. EncBrit (last access: 19 November 2025). 3. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 19 November 2025). 4. IMDb (last access: 19 November 2025).
SYN: desoxyephedrine, speed.
S: TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 19 November 2025)
CR: addiction, amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine, drug, drug addict, drug addiction, drug dealer, drug product, drug substance, fentanyl, hallucinogen, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, narcotic, narcotic (2), opium, overdose, pharmacology.
