medication
Americannoun
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medications
plural
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the use or application of medicine.
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
The Royal College of General Practitioners Cymru Wales, external advised people to always "read the label carefully" and seek advice from a GP before taking medication.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Those who got the medication lost between 16.2% and 18.% of their body weight.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Eventually, she stopped taking her medication for high blood pressure and diabetes.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
In particular, people with certain bone disorders or those receiving medication for osteoporosis may have different needs and should not assume the findings apply directly to them.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
As he lay sick in June 1836, doctors asked Madison if he would like medication that might help him survive until Independence Day.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
His parents were asked about his paracetamol intake, and they were able to find the two medications and work out what had happened.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic have reshaped treatment for Type 2 diabetes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
Novo and Eli Lilly don’t support the off-label use of their GLP-1 medications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
That pattern suggests the original gaps may have reflected differences between the types of people who used GLP-1 drugs and those who did not, rather than effects caused by the medications themselves.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
The ground would soon become wet, and sleeping in a puddle would be a surefire path to pneumonia, without any hope of a doctor or medications.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
