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paregoric

[par-i-gawr-ik, -gor-]

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noun Pharmacology.

a camphorated tincture of opium, containing benzoic acid, anise oil, etc., used chiefly to stop diarrhea in children.

any soothing medicine; anodyne.

adjective

Archaic. assuaging pain; soothing.

Origin of paregoric

1675–85; < Late Latin parēgoricus < Greek parēgorikós soothing, equivalent to parḗgor(os) pertaining to consolatory speech (equivalent to par- par- + -ēgor-, combining form of agorā́ agora¹ + -os adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic

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

Examples from the Web for paregoric

Historical Examples of paregoric

She, carrying the babies, drugged with paregoric, in a basket on her arm.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
Boil them to a syrup; and when quite cold, add two table-spoonfuls of paregoric elixir, which is made in the following manner.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
And neither is paregoric to be administered wholesale for colic.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
It macerates its opium and percolates its own laudanum and paregoric.
The Four Million
O. Henry
It smells as if someone had been drinking quarts of paregoric!
About Peggy Saville
Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey

British Dictionary definitions for paregoric

paregoric

noun

a medicine containing opium, benzoic acid, camphor (English paregoric) or ammonia (Scottish paregoric), and anise oil, formerly widely used to relieve diarrhoea and coughing in children

Word Origin for paregoric

C17 (meaning: relieving pain): via Late Latin from Greek parēgorikos soothing, from parēgoros relating to soothing speech, from para- 1 (beside, alongside of) + -ēgor-, from agoreuein to speak in assembly, from agora assembly

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 paregoric

n.

"medicine that soothes pain," 1704, from adjective (1680s) "soothing," from Late Latin paregoricus, from Greek paregorikos "soothing, encouraging, consoling," from paregorein "speak soothingly to," from paregoros "consoling," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + root of agoreuein "speak in public," from agora "public assembly," from PIE root *ger- "to gather" (see gregarious).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

paregoric in Medicine

paregoric

[păr′ə-gôr′ĭk]

n.

A camphorated tincture of opium, taken internally for the relief of diarrhea and intestinal pain.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.