thisdrug what a medicine's name tells you

WHO naming stem · anywhere in the name · 17 listed names

orphan

opioid receptor antagonists/agonists, morphinan derivatives

WHO's definition, quoted as written in the 2024 stem book
Names only. This page is about orphan as a part of a name. It has nothing on uses, doses, side effects or interactions of any medicine that carries it, and nothing here is medical advice. Ask a pharmacist or doctor about the medicine itself.

Where it sits in a name

WHO writes the stem as orphan, without hyphens, which means it can sit anywhere in a name. So the letters orphan sit anywhere in the name (orphan).

All 17 names WHO lists under orphan

These are the INN in group (a) of Part IV of the stem book: names in which WHO says the stem is used as defined. The stem is marked where WHO places it. A-Z as WHO lists them.

  1. butorphanol
  2. deudextromethorphan
  3. dextromethorphan
  4. dextrorphan
  5. levallorphan
  6. levomethorphan
  7. levophenacylmorphan
  8. levorphanol
  9. methylsamidorphan chloride
  10. norlevorphanol
  11. oxilorphan
  12. phenomorphan
  13. proxorphan
  14. racemethorphan
  15. racemorphan
  16. samidorphan
  17. xorphanol

Decode another name

Decoded

xorphanol

Listed INNCarries 2 WHO stems, most specific first: orphan …

  • orphaninside the nameWHO lists it hereWHO definition: opioid receptor antagonists/agonists, morphinan derivatives
  • -orph-inside the nameWHO definition: opioid receptor antagonists/agonists, morphinan derivatives

“xorphanol” is an INN that WHO lists under orphan in the 2024 stem book.

The same decoder as the front page: it reads the letters of a name against all 482 WHO stems, in your browser.

Source and licence

The definition of orphan (Part II B) and the 17 names (Part IV, group (a)) are from Use of stems in the selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for pharmaceutical substances, 2024 (World Health Organization, Stem book 2024 (ISBN 978-92-4-009938-8); covers proposed INN Lists 1-129). Checked .

Adapted from: Use of stems in the selection of International Nonproprietary Names (INN) for pharmaceutical substances, 2024. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. This adaptation was not created by WHO; WHO is not responsible for its content or accuracy and does not endorse this site. The data file stems.json is shared under the same licence.