materia medica

American  

[muh-teer-ee-uh med-i-kuh] / məˈtɪər i ə ˈmɛd ɪ kə /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the remedial substances employed in medicine.

2. Also called pharmacognosy.  (used with a singular verb) the science dealing with the sources, physical characteristics, uses, and doses of drugs.

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materia medica British  

/ məˈtɪərɪə ˈmɛdɪkə /

noun

1. the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs

2. the drugs used in the treatment of disease

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Etymology

Origin of materia medica

1690–1700; < Medieval Latin: medical material

Example Sentences

Project 523’s embrace of Chinese materia medica – the traditional body of knowledge about substances’ healing properties – is a more recent example of the efforts to “scientize” Chinese medicine through selective appropriation and detailed investigation.

From Salon

Faced with varying results, Tu and her team returned to the existing materia medica literature and reexamined each instance in which qinghao appeared in a traditional recipe.

From US News

These observations were compiled into a book of “provings” called the materia medica, still the basis for homeopathic treatment today.The “provings” do not match substance to disease.

From Salon

The remarkable progress they made in medicine, was in surgery; the description of maladies; materia medica; and pharmacy.

From Project Gutenberg

He remained at Cambridge nearly ten years longer practising medicine, and gave an annual course of lectures on materia medica.

From Project Gutenberg