excipient

American  

[ik-sip-ee-uhnt] / ɪkˈsɪp i ənt /

noun

Pharmacology.

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

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excipient British  

/ ɪkˈsɪpɪənt /

noun

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

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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

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

In the long sheet of information folded tightly and crammed into a box of pills, lactose is identified as an “inert” or “excipient” ingredient.

From Washington Post

The body or prescription contains the following: the Basis, or principal active ingredient; the Adjuvant, or Auxiliary, to assist its action; the Corrective, to correct or diminish some undesirable quality; the Vehicle, or Excipient, to give a suitable form for administration.

From Project Gutenberg

Excipient, ek-sip′i-ent, n. a substance mixed with a medicine to give it consistence, or used as a vehicle for its administration.

From Project Gutenberg

Gum tragacanth is used in calico-printing as a thickener of colours and mordants; in medicine as a demulcent and vehicle for insoluble powders, and as an excipient in pills; and for setting and mending beetles and other insect specimens.

From Project Gutenberg