mithridate

American  

[mith-ri-deyt] / ˈmɪθ rɪˌdeɪt /

noun

Old Pharmacology.

1. a confection believed to contain an antidote to every poison.

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mithridate British  

/ ˈmɪθrɪˌdeɪt /

noun

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

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Etymology

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 ( def. ) ( mithridatism ) + -ius -ious

Example Sentences

Their kinsman garlic bring, the poor man’s mithridate.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

Note: Realgar: The Chinese believe that realgar is a mithridate and tonic.

From The Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm, Richard

Then I asked for a cataplasm, composed of radish-roots, mustard-seed, onions and garlic roasted, mithridate, salt, and soot from a chimney where wood only has been burnt.

From Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire by Ainsworth, William Harrison

Household furniture is exported to Genoa, besides the usual articles: velvets, which were then the best in the world; satins, the best coral, mithridate, and treacle, are the principal or the peculiar imports.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18 Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, By William Stevenson by Stevenson, William

What silly mariner in my ship hath not bought or begged mithridate or a pinch of achimenius wherewith to make good his voyage?

From Sir Mortimer by Johnston, Mary