Nootropic
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any substance purported to increase or enhance cognitive abilities.
"Nootropics also include extracted and purified components of medicinal plants, as well as substances synthesized from chemical precursors, such as piracetam, the world's first official nootropic (piracetam was created in 1964 in Belgium by a team of scientists whose leader, Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea, coined the term)."
- 2 A drug that enhances learning and memory and lacks the usual pharmacology of other psychotropic drugs (e.g. sedation, motor stimulation) and possesses very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.
- 1 Relating to substances that enhance cognitive performance.
"It's triggered and explosion of “functional” drinks featuring adaptogenic and nootropic ingredients; plants that in some cases have been used for thousands of years to boost mood and cognitive performance."
Example
More examples"Nootropics also include extracted and purified components of medicinal plants, as well as substances synthesized from chemical precursors, such as piracetam, the world's first official nootropic (piracetam was created in 1964 in Belgium by a team of scientists whose leader, Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea, coined the term)."
Etymology
Coined by Romanian psychologist and chemist Corneliu E. Giurgea in 1972, derived from the Ancient Greek words νόος (nóos, “mind”) and τροπέω (tropéō, “to turn”). By surface analysis, noo(s) + -tropic, literally “mind changing”.
More for "nootropic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.