aspirin
Pluralaspirins
- 1A tablet containing the pain-relieving drug acetylsalicylic acid.
Take one aspirin every four hours, but no more than six in a day.
The nurse handed him two aspirins and a cup of water.
Note
Once it is counted, the drug becomes a dose: one aspirin, two aspirins, with a regular plural like any tablet. The shift is easy to miss because the substance itself takes no plural. "Take aspirin" and "take an aspirin" differ only in whether you are counting. F.J. Thwaites's The Redemption (1936) has a character who took "heaven alone knows how many aspirins."
- 2A drug that relieves pain, consisting of the compound acetylsalicylic acid.
Many people take aspirin to ease minor aches and pains.
Aspirin thins the blood, so some patients take it daily to lower their risk of heart attack.
SimilarASA
Note
A genericized trademark: German Aspirin, built from acetylierte Spirsäure, "acetylated spiraeic acid." The name remains a registered trademark in some countries, but in the United States the German trademarks were nullified after World War I, and it became an ordinary noun. Chemists name the compound acetylsalicylic acid, a carboxylic acid, often shortened to ASA. When it means the substance, aspirin takes no plural.
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Origin
Originally a German trademark, Aspirin was formed from acetylierte Spirsäure, literally "acetylated spiraeic acid." It entered general English use after German trademarks were nullified in the United States following World War I.