excipient

[ ik-sip-ee-uh nt ]

/ 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.

Words nearby excipient

exchangee, exchanger, exchequer, excide, excimer, excipient, exciple, excipulum, excircle, excisable, excise

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for excipient

A pharmaceutical preparation, in which glycerin is employed as the excipient.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
For an excipient in manipulating a pill mass which do you prefer—the magnesia carbonate or the pulverised glycerrhiza radix?
Strictly Business|O. Henry
An excipient for medicinal agents when they are to be administered in the form of bolus.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
The sugar of milk, about 10 per cent., or 1⁄2 grain per pill, no doubt is simply an excipient.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2|Various

Excipient, ek-sip′i-ent, n. a substance mixed with a medicine to give it consistence, or used as a vehicle for its administration.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for excipient

excipient

/ (ɪkˈsɪpɪənt) /

noun

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

Word Origin for excipient

C18: from Latin excipiēns excepting, from excipere to except

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

Medical definitions for excipient

excipient

[ ĭk-sĭp′ē-ənt ]

n.

An inert substance used as a diluent or vehicle for a drug.