psychedelic

Term: psychedelic

Literally meaning: “revealing soul or mind manifesting”

Origin: Anc Greek

ψυχή/psichi>ψύχω/psicho(=blow, breath)

In Greek mythology “ψυχή” means a butterfly or the soul spirit, breath or life.

+δηλόω-ώ/deloo(="make visible, reveal, anifest) > δήλος/delos(=visible, clear)

Coined/History

 The term “psychedelic” was introduced first time by British psychologist Humphry Osmond (1917 - 2004) who wrote to his friend Aldous Huxley in 1957 seeking a word to use as a reference for hallucinogenic drugs. Huxley responded in verse: “to make this mundane world sublime/Take half a gram of phanerothyme.” His word, “phanerothyme” was a combination of the Greek words for “manifest” (phaneros) and “spirit” (thumos). However, it was Osmond’s reply that stuck: “To fathom Hell or soar angelic/Just take a pinch of psychedelic (a combo of “soul” (psuche) and “to manifest” (deloun).

Definition
Psychedelic is a  mental characterized  intensified sensory 
perception,  sometimes accompanied by hallucinations, distortions of perception and altered states of awareness.