medication
Americannoun
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the use or application of medicine.
-
a medicinal substance; medicament.
noun
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treatment with drugs or remedies
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a drug or remedy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
In young people, the underlying cause can either be genetic or acquired in some way - after an infection or an allergic reaction to medication, for example.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Around a decade later, when Danovich went to a clinic for another IUD—a small, T-shaped birth control device that’s inserted past the cervix into the uterus—she asked the doctor for pain medication.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026
It means supplementation should be targeted: based on confirmed deficiencies, clear risk factors, medication use or evidence that someone is not getting enough from food.
From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026
The hope is that these companies discover drugs that halt or even reverse the biological course of aging, which would be a completely new way of using prescription medication.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
I take my medication and I feel better and I think better.
From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones
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.
