Pharmaceutical terms with onomastic component: quantitative, structural and lexico-semantic analysis.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Linguistics
• Medical Terminology

Background:

• Eponymic terms, derived from proper names, are utilized in various scientific fields.
• Understanding their prevalence in pharmaceutical terminology is crucial for accurate drug identification and communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively, structurally, and lexico-semantically analyze eponymic terms in Latin and English pharmaceutical terminologies.
• To determine the prevalence and role of proper names in medication nomenclature.

Main Methods:

• A corpus of 147 pharmaceutical terms containing eponymic components was collected from dictionaries and manuals.
• Narrative and component analysis methods were employed for systematization and interpretation.

Main Results:

• Eponymic terms were found predominantly in semisolid dosage forms (55.1%) and liquid dosage forms (40.8%).
• Solid dosage forms constituted a smaller proportion (4.1%) of the analyzed eponymic terms.
• The most extensive group of eponymic terms were those specifying the dosage form of the medication.

Conclusions:

• Eponymic terms are a significant component of pharmaceutical nomenclature, especially for semisolid and liquid formulations.
• Further research is warranted to explore the synchronic and diachronic tendencies of eponymization in drug naming.