mithridate

See also: Mithridate

English

Alternative forms

mithridat, mithrydate, mitridat, mitridate, mithrydat
methridat, methridate, metridat, metridate, medridate, methredate
mythridate

Etymology

From Middle English mitridate and methridat, from Old French mithridat, from Late Latin mithridatum and mithridatium, from Latin Mithridātīus (“of or related to Mithridates”), from Mithridātēs + -ius, from Ancient Greek Μιθριδάτης (Mithridátēs), the Greek form of the name of Mithridates VI of Pontus. Doublet of mithridatium, mithridatum, and mithridaticon.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪθrəˌdeɪt/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪθrɪdeɪt/

Noun

mithridate (plural mithridates)

(historical medicine) Any of various historical medicines—typically an electuary compounded with various poisons—believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote.
- 1528, Thomas Paynell translating Joannes de Mediolano's Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, p. 33:
  Auicen saythe; There be certeyne medicins... which wyl not suffre poyson to approche nere the harte, as triacle and Metridate.
- 1686, Thomas D'Urfey, Common-wealth of Women, Act V, Sc. ii, 47:
  Fools may talk of Mythridate, Cordials, Elixers...
- 1990, Harold Leo Klawans, Newton's Madness, p. 127:
  What he wanted, in effect, was a universal antidote, which medical science has for years referred to as a mithridate.
- 1676, Richard Wiseman, “Of Lepra or Elephantiasis”, in Several Chirurgicall Treatises, London: Printed by E. Flesher and J[ohn] Macock, for R[ichard] Royston […], and B[enjamin] Took […], OCLC 960106466, 1st book (A Treatise of Tumours), page 139:
  After I had thus evacuated the Plethora, and diſpoſed her body for Mercurialls more operative, I gave her each morning and evening a few grains of Mercur. diaphoret. in a bolus with conſ. lujule and Mithridate [...]
(figurative, now rare) Synonym of cure.
- 1587, Angell Day translating Longus as Daphnis and Chloe, sig. C3v:
  The contemplation was a mithridate to a pestered conceipted minde.
- 1592, John Lyly, Midas..., Act IV, Sc. iv, 47:
  That which maketh me most both to sorrow and wonder, is that musick (a methridat for melancholy) should make him mad.
(rare, obsolete) Ellipsis of mithridate mustard.: pepperwort (L. campestre), pennycress (T. arvense), or candytuft (Iberis).

Synonyms

mithridatium, mithridatum, mithridaticon, mithridate treacle, see also theriac

Derived terms

candy mithridate
mithridate confection
mithridate cress
mithridate julep
mithridate mustard
mithridate pennywort
mithridatic

Translations

supposed universal antidote against poison

Catalan: metridat (ca)
French: mithridate (fr)
German: Mithridat
Italian: mitridato
Latin: mithridatium, mithridatum
Spanish: mitridato
Portuguese: mitridátio, mithridato

References

“mithridate, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.