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NOUN: |
1. A salt or
ester of barbituric acid. |
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ETYMOLOGY: |
barbitur(ic acid) +
-ate |
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USAGE
NOTE: |
When this class of
drugs was introduced in the early part of this century, barbiturate
had its main stress on the penultimate syllable, a pronunciation that is
still used in the medical profession. As the word passed into the
general vocabulary the stress shifted to the antepenultimate syllable,
bringing the stress pattern more in line with words like acculturate,
accurate, and saturate. Either pronunciation is considered
correct now. Since at least the 1960s the pronunciation (bär-b
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