medication
Americannoun
-
the use or application of medicine.
-
a medicinal substance; medicament.
noun
-
treatment with drugs or remedies
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a drug or remedy
Other Word Forms
- antimedication adjective
- hypermedication noun
- overmedication noun
Etymology
Origin of medication
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin medicātiōn- (stem of medicātiō ). See medicate, -ion
Explanation
If your doctor prescribes something for you to take, it's medication. Medication is another way to say "medicine" or "drug." Your poison ivy rash might be so bad that you need to take medication to stop the itching. People need medication for all sorts of illnesses and disorders throughout their lives, from headache medication to medication for cancer treatment. In the fifteenth century, the word meant "medical treatment of a disease or wound," from the Latin medicationem, "healing or cure," with its root in medicus, which means both "healing" and "physician."
Vocabulary lists containing medication
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Pharmacy Words
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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.
As new options pop up, patients have more control over how they take the medication and how they pay for it.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
He then listed the medication, though that portion of the footage was redacted.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
And the type of medication used, the dose and how long it is taken for have all been linked with greater weight loss.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Subcutaneous injections deliver medication into the fatty tissue layer between the skin and muscle.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
They’d grown painfully intense—like she’d been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
