excipient

American

[ik-sip-ee-uhnt] / ɪkˈsɪp i ənt /

noun

Pharmacology.

a pharmacologically inert, adhesive substance, as honey, syrup, or gum arabic, used to bind the contents of a pill or tablet.

excipient British

/ ɪkˈsɪpɪənt /

noun

a substance, such as sugar or gum, used to prepare a drug or drugs in a form suitable for administration

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of excipient

1720–30; < Latin excipient- (stem of excipiēns ), present participle of excipere to take out, except, take up, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + -cipi- (stem of combining form of capere to take) + -ent- -ent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

excipient

The study, "Culinary strategies for improving carotenoid bioaccessibility in kale: The role of thermal processing and excipient emulsions," was published in Food Nutrition.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2025

This preparation is, in our opinion, undesirable on account of its liability to become rancid and vaseline should be the excipient used.

From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Jerome Beers Thomas

When the Temperance Hospital was first opened, it became a question of practical importance, what should be done with regard to the alcohol so largely employed as a vehicle and drug excipient.

From Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why What Medical Writers Say by Martha Meir Allen

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023