mithridate

[ mith-ri-deyt ]

/ ˈmɪθ rɪˌdeɪt /

noun Old Pharmacology.

a confection believed to contain an antidote to every poison.

Nearby words

mither, mithgarthr, mithraeum, mithraism, mithras, mithridate, mithridates vi, mithridatism, mithridatize, miticide, mitigate

Origin of mithridate

1520–30; earlier mithridatum < Medieval Latin, variant of Late Latin mithridātium, noun use of neuter of Mithridātius, equivalent to Mithridāt(ēs) Mithridates VI (see mithridatism) + -ius -ious

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

Examples from the Web for mithridate

Mithridate, the ancient cure-all of King Mithridates, was another dose for children.
Child Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle
Officers and ladies took part in the performances, and the plays Nicomède and Mithridate were wholly unobjectionable.
Count Frontenac|William Dawson LeSueur
Note: Realgar: The Chinese believe that realgar is a mithridate and tonic.
The Chinese Fairy Book|Various
The mithridate is still prepared in some shops, and is occasionally, though very rarely, prescribed.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley

The cabal which gathered head against Bajazet could only whisper its malignities when Mithridate appeared.
A History of French Literature|Edward Dowden

British Dictionary definitions for mithridate

mithridate

/ (ˈmɪθrɪˌdeɪt) /

noun

obsolete a substance believed to be an antidote to every poison and a cure for every disease

Word Origin for mithridate

C16: from Late Latin mithradatium, after Mithridates VI, alluding to his legendary immunity to poisons

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