psychedelic
/ˌsaɪkəˈdelɪk/sigh-kuh-DEH-lik
/ˌsaɪkəˈdɛlɪk/sigh-kuh-DEH-lik
Meaningmind manifesting
Common meaning: relating to drugs that alter perception
Other meanings: or vivid, swirling art in that style
- psychbreath, soul, mindLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 903 · scan
- delto make visible, show (from δῆλος, clear, visible)Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 182 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘breath, soul, mind’ + ‘to make visible, show (from δῆλος, clear, visible)’ → psychedelic
Journey through time
- psych — Greek ψυχή “breath, soul, mind” (path traced)
- del — Greek δηλόω “to make visible, show (from δῆλος, clear, visible)” (path traced)
- Greekψυχή + δηλόω‘soul, mind + to make visible’source
- Englishpsychedelic‘coined in 1956: mind manifesting’
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Coined in English in 1956 by the psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, from Greek ψυχή ‘breath, soul, mind’ + δηλόω ‘to make visible, show’ (from δῆλος ‘clear, visible’) + English -ic.
Roots
- δηλόω Greek “to make visible, show (from δῆλος, clear, visible)”
- ψυχή Greek “breath of life; the soul, mind”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app