A person who suffers from dipsomania; someone with an uncontrollable compulsion to drink alcohol.
Formed in the 19th century by combining 'dipsomania' (the condition) plus '-ac' (a person affected by that condition). Part of the 1800s medical movement to classify compulsive behaviors scientifically.
The formal creation of 'dipsomaniac' in medical literature marked a turning point—instead of calling alcoholics morally weak, doctors could now diagnose them with a condition, which led to actual treatment instead of just punishment.
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