Neosalvarsan is a compound drug used to treat syphilis that was discovered in the early 20th century. The spelling of this word is pronounced as /ˌniːəʊˈsælvərsən/ or nee-oh-sal-ver-suhn. The first syllable 'neo' is pronounced with a long e, while the second part 'salvarsan' is made up of three syllables: sal (rhyming with 'pal'), var (rhyming with 'car'), and san (rhyming with 'can'). This complicated pronunciation may be attributed to the drug's origins in the German language.
No. 914; a condensation product of salvarsan and formaldehyde-sulphoxyl-acid sodium; it differs from No. 606 in being neutral in reaction, more soluble, and less toxic, being especially adapted for intramuscular injection.
A practical medical dictionary. By Stedman, Thomas Lathrop. Published 1920.
The word neosalvarsan is derived from the combination of two terms: neo- and salvarsan.
1. Neo- is a prefix of Greek origin meaning new or recent, which is commonly used to indicate a new or modified version of something.
2. Salvarsan is a term coined by combining the chemical symbols for arsenic (As) and selenium (Se), as the compound was initially developed as an arsenic-based drug containing selenium. Salva is derived from the German word heilsalvarsan, which means arsenic for healing.
Therefore, neosalvarsan can be translated to mean a new or modified version of salvarsan.