mithridate

[ mith-ri-deyt ]

/ ˈmɪθ rɪˌdeɪt /

noun Old Pharmacology.

a confection believed to contain an antidote to every poison.

Nearby words

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

Word Origin and History for mithridate

mithridate

"antidote against poison," from Medieval Latin mithridatum, from Late Latin mithridatium, neuter of Mithridatius "pertaining to Mithridates," king of Pontus, who made himself poison-proof.