alexipharmic

alexipharmic

English

WOTD – 22 September 2022

Etymology

A variant of alexipharmac +‎ -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).[1] Alexipharmac is borrowed from the following:[2]

• As a noun, from Middle French alexipharmaque (modern French alexipharmaque (archaic)), and from its etymon Latin alexipharmacon (“antidote”) (whence Late Latin alexipharmacum), from Ancient Greek ἀλεξῐφᾰ́ρμᾰκον (alexiphármakon, “antidote; (generally) remedy; charm, spell”), a noun use of the neuter of ἀλεξῐφᾰ́ρμᾰκος (alexiphármakos, “acting as an antidote”), from ἀλέξειν (aléxein) (the active infinitive of ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend, guard, protect; to help; to keep off, turn aside, ward off”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂lek- (“to protect”)) + φάρμᾰκον (phármakon, “drug, whether healing or poisonous; charm, potion, spell; colour, dye”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming certain types of adjectives).
• As an adjective, from French alexipharmaque (archaic), and from its etymon Late Latin alexipharmacus, from Ancient Greek ἀλεξιφάρμακος (alexiphármakos) (see above).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˌlɛksɪˈfɑːmɪk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˌlɛksəˈfɑɹmɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)mɪk
• Hyphenation: alex‧i‧pharm‧ic

Noun

alexipharmic (plural alexipharmics)

1. (pharmacology, chiefly archaic or historical, also figuratively) Synonym of alexipharmac (“a medical remedy for protecting the body, or an antidote, against harmful substances, especially a poison or venom (specifically, that of a snake)”); an antidote.

   Synonyms: (all archaic or historical) alexipharmacal, alexipharmacon, alexipharmakon, alexipharmacum

Coordinate terms

• alexipyretic
• alexiteric

Related terms

• alexipharmacon
• alexipharmacum
• alexipharmakon
• alexipharmical

Translations

synonym of alexipharmac — see alexipharmac,‎ antidote

See also

• post-exposure prophylaxis
• pre-exposure prophylaxis

Adjective

alexipharmic (comparative more alexipharmic, superlative most alexipharmic)

1. (pharmacology, chiefly archaic or historical) Synonym of alexipharmac (“of or pertaining to an alexipharmac; also, acting as an alexipharmac by protecting against or warding off the ill effects of a harmful substance, especially a poison or venom”)

   Synonyms: (both archaic or historical) alexipharmacal, alexipharmical

Translations

synonym of alexipharmac — see alexipharmac

References

1. “alexipharmic, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “alexipharmic, n. and adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
2. “alexipharmac, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “alexipharmac, n. and adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• antidote on Wikipedia.Wikipedia