nutraceutical
UK[ˌnjuː.trəˈsjuː.tɪ.kəl]US[ˌnuː.trəˈsuː.t̬ɪ.kəl]
n
a food or food product that provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.
Morpheme Breakdown
nutri
ceutical
nutri
nourishment
ceutical
pharmaceutical
Etymology
the term is a modern portmanteau, coined in 1989 by dr. stephen defelice by blending 'nutrition' and 'pharmaceutical'. the first element, 'nutri-', derives from the latin verb nutrire, which carries the fundamental sense of feeding and sustaining life. the second element, '-ceutical', is a creative truncation of 'pharmaceutical', a word of greek origin relating to medicinal drugs. this deliberate fusion constructs a new concept that sits at the intersection of food and medicine, literally implying a 'nutritional pharmaceutical'—a product designed to deliver therapeutic health benefits beyond basic nutritional value.
Analysis
Structure: nutri (nourishment) + ceutical (pharmaceutical)
nutri: from latin nutrire, meaning 'to nourish, feed, suckle'. it functions as the core root indicating nourishment or nutrition.
ceutical: a clipped and altered form of 'pharmaceutical', from greek pharmakeutikos ('of or for drugs'). it functions as a suffix indicating a connection to medicine or healing.
Examples
the market for nutraceuticals, such as fortified juices and probiotic yogurts, has grown rapidly.
many consumers take fish oil supplements as a nutraceutical to support heart health.
researchers are studying the potential of plant compounds to be developed into effective nutraceuticals.