Given medicine or drugs that calm you down and make you sleepy or relaxed, especially before surgery or medical procedures.
From Latin 'sedatus' (calm, settled), from 'sedere' (to sit). Medical use became standard in the 1800s when sedative drugs were developed.
Anesthesiologists carefully manage sedation because there's a fine line between relaxed and unconscious. Too light and you feel pain; too deep and you stop breathing—it's why they monitor constantly with machines.
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