Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An antidote against poison, especially a confection formerly held to be an antidote to all poisons.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In old pharmacy, one of various compositions of many ingredients in the form of electuaries, supposed to serve either as an antidote or as a preservative against poison.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An antidote against poison, or a composition in form of an electuary, supposed to serve either as a remedy or a preservative against poison; an alexipharmic; -- so called from King Mithridates, its reputed inventor.
Etymologies
- Medieval Latin mithridātum, alteration of Late Latin mithridātīum, from Latin, neuter of Mithridātīus, of Mithridates, from Greek mithridāteios, after Mithridates VI, who is said to have acquired tolerance for poison.
Examples
“Let the best of our rational physicians demonstrate and give a sufficient reason for those intricate mixtures, why just so many simples in mithridate or treacle, why such and such quantity; may they not be reduced to half or a quarter?”
“What silly mariner in my ship hath not bought or begged mithridate or a pinch of achimenius wherewith to make good his voyage?”
“One cannot but feel a thrill of sympathy for poor, dying Hurd on that hot September night, fairly hectored by pious, loud-voiced neighbors into eternity; and can well believe that many a colonial invalid who lived through mithridate and rubila, through sweating and blood-letting, died of the kindly and godly-intentioned praying of his neighbors.”
“The medicine mithridate forms a part of many of these prescriptions; it does not seem to be regarded as an alexipharmic, but as a soporific.”
“The more effectually to support his character as a mountebank, Villiers sold mithridate and galbanum plasters: thousands of spectators and customers thronged every day to see and hear him.”
“Mithridates, who had made himself poison-proof, gave us the now forgotten word ‘mithridate’, for antidote; as from Hippocrates we derived ‘hipocras’, or ‘ypocras’, a word often occurring in our early poets, being a wine supposed to be mingled after his receipt.”
“Physicians, Bloundel was at no loss how to act, but, rubbing the part affected with a stimulating ointment, he administered at the same time doses of mithridate, Venice treacle, and other potent alexipharmics.”
“If you love me, go and fetch me a little conserve of Roman wormwood and mithridate.”
“Then I asked for a cataplasm, composed of radish-roots, mustard-seed, onions and garlic roasted, mithridate, salt, and soot from a chimney where wood only has been burnt.”
“Household furniture is exported to Genoa, besides the usual articles: velvets, which were then the best in the world; satins, the best coral, mithridate, and treacle, are the principal or the peculiar imports.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mithridate’.
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Old Pharmacy, etc.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
There. I think I've convinced myself.
(Of course...asafetida, Cinchona, Peruvian bark, Jesuit's bark, mithridate, aqua, bark, lard, electuary, gentian, diatessaron, myrrh and 100 more...
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pseudoscience
craniology, craniometer, cranioscopy, phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic, choleric, homeopathy, allopathy, metoposcopy, panacea, catholicon and 17 more...
chained_bear See also confectio Damocritis. Oct 15, 2008