original definition: to deliver over to, as a slave (verb)
new definition: one who is dependent on narcotics; one who is dependent on anything (noun)
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| Photo by Grianghraf on Unsplash |
When you hear the word “addict,” you are likely to think of B-list celebrities who, once again, are taking up residence for “exhaustion” in some tony rehab center. But “addict” didn’t become associated with narcotics—nor did it become a noun—until the dawn of the twentieth century.
For more than 2,000 years, “addict” was a verb with many dark meanings: to sacrifice (as in, on an altar, not as in doing something selfless for others), sell out, betray, give over. Most definitions suggested slavery or enslavement in some way. You would “addict”—or sell into slavery—someone whom you bested in battle, for example.
Thus, the path from ancient “addict” to modern “addict” traces a smooth metaphorical groove.
To “addict” was to enslave someone. An addict is someone enslaved to narcotics. After that connection was made around 1900, the newly minted noun eventually went on to describe people “enslaved” to everything from pornography to television to video games.
Taken from: The Unexpected Evolution of Language
