anesthetic

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀναίσθητος (anaísthētos, “insensible”), from ἀν- (an-, “un-”) + αἰσθητικός (aisthētikós, “perceptible”).

adj

1. Causing anesthesia; reducing pain sensitivity.
2. Insensate: unable to feel, or unconscious.
   (I find that he is analgesic and anaesthetic; evidently he is in a state of passive somnambulism.) E. A. Did you feel anybody touch you? K. No. There's no one near me. (He continues laughing and talking. […]) 1924, Maurice Walter Keatinge, Suggestion in Education
   Though physically capable of attaining sex rewards, he is anesthetic; though capable of aggression, he is meek; though capable of affection, he is cold and unresponsive. 1984, B. R. Hergenhahn, An Introduction to Theories of Personality, Prentice Hall
   He is anesthetic to their theological and political enthusiasms. He finds himself an alien at their feasts of soul. 2012, H.L. Mencken, Mencken Chrestomathy, Vintage, page 189

noun

1. (American spelling, medicine) A substance administered to reduce the perception of pain or to induce numbness for surgery and may render the recipient unconscious.
   After a local anesthetic is applied to the eye, do not rub or wipe the eye until the anesthetic has worn off and feeling in the eye returns. 1994, Anesthetics (Ophthalmic) (original version), Drugs.com
   Modern anesthetics can be divided into several different groups according to how and where they act to reduce pain. During premedication, the anesthetist may give a patient drugs that make him or her feel relaxed and drowsy before the actual general anesthetic is administered. 2004, David B. Jacoby, R. M. Youngson, Encyclopedia of Family Health, Marshall Cavendish, page 91