Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An antidote against poison, especially a confection formerly held to be an antidote to all poisons.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete A universal
antidote againstpoison
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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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?
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What silly mariner in my ship hath not bought or begged mithridate or a pinch of achimenius wherewith to make good his voyage?
Sir Mortimer Mary Johnston 1903
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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.
Customs and Fashions in Old New England Alice Morse Earle 1881
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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.
Customs and Fashions in Old New England Alice Morse Earle 1881
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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.
The Wits and Beaux of Society Volume 1 Philip Wharton 1847
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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.
English Past and Present Richard Chenevix Trench 1846
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If you love me, go and fetch me a little conserve of Roman wormwood and mithridate.
Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire William Harrison Ainsworth 1843
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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.
Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire William Harrison Ainsworth 1843
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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.
Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire William Harrison Ainsworth 1843
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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.
chained_bear commented on the word mithridate
See also confectio Damocritis.
October 16, 2008