Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A chemical agent that induces feelings of empathy.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

empathy +‎ -o- +‎ -gen, coined in 1983 by American psychologist Ralph Metzner.

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  • Neighbor of the enpathogen.

    January 12, 2009

  • The terms empathogen and entactogen are different terms used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA ("ecstasy").

    The term "empathogen" was coined in 1983 by Ralph Metzner to denote chemical agents inducing feelings of empathy.

    "Entactogen" was coined by David E. Nichols as an alternative to "empathogen", attempting to avoid the potential for improper association of the latter with negative connotations related to the Greek root "pathos" (suffering).

    The word "entactogen" is derived from the roots "en" (Greek: within), "tactus" (Latin: touch) and "gen" (Greek: produce) (Nichols 1986: 308).

    Neither term is dominant in usage, and, despite their difference in connotation, are essentially interchangeable, as they refer to precisely the same chemicals.

    January 18, 2009