drug-addicted

The compound adjective 'drug-addicted' is a modern formation that transparently combines two established English words to specify a particular type of addiction. The first element, 'drug', entered English via medieval trade routes, originally referring to dried medicinal plants but narrowing over centuries to denote psychoactive substances. The second element, 'addicted', carries a deeper history from Latin legal terminology, where 'addicere' meant to formally award or surrender a person to a creditor or master, implying a loss of autonomy. This etymological sense of being bound or devoted to a master evolved into the modern concept of compulsive dependence. Thus, the word's logic is starkly literal: it describes a state of being surrendered or bound to a narcotic substance.

Structure: drug (narcotic substance) + addicted (dependent on) - drug: From Middle English 'drogge', likely from Old French 'drogue', of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch 'droge'. Functions as the noun base specifying the object of dependence. - addicted: From Latin 'addictus', past participle of 'addicere' meaning 'to assign, surrender, devote'. In English, it functions as an adjective-forming past participle indicating a state of being given over to something.