AstraZeneca

English

Etymology

The company was formed by the merger of Astra AB and Zeneca. Astra is from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́στρον (ástron, “star”), whereas Zeneca, the company stated, “is an invented name, created by an agency instructed to find a name which began with a letter from either the top or bottom of the alphabet and was phonetically memorable, of no more than three syllables and did not have an offensive meaning in any language.”

Proper noun

AstraZeneca (uncountable)

1. (neologism) The COVID-19 vaccine made by the AstraZeneca company.
   • 2021 July 2, The NT News, Darwin, page 22, column 2:

     I am over the age of 60. I have a choice of AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca or AstraZeneca - or die of Covid.