Addiction to or abuse of ether, especially as an inhalant drug; the practice or condition of using ether recreationally.
From 'ether' plus the suffix '-ism' (a practice, condition, or doctrine). The term emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries when ether was widely available and sometimes misused.
In the 1800s, before modern regulations, etherism was an epidemic rivaling alcohol addiction—people would secretly inhale ether for its intoxicating effects, creating a hidden addiction crisis that nobody talks about anymore.
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