theriac
Americannoun
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molasses; treacle.
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a paste formerly used as an antidote to poison, especially snake venom, made from 60 or 70 different drugs pulverized and mixed with honey.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of theriac
before 1000; < Latin thēriaca antidote to poison < Greek thēriakḗ, feminine of thēriakós, equivalent to thērí ( on ) wild beast + -akos -ac; replacing Middle English tiriake, Old English tȳriaca < Medieval Latin, variant of thēriaca
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.
The fearful suffering and violent convulsions which followed only subsided at the expiration of five or six hours, and at last, the theriac which was administered to him after the bite, effected a cure.
From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century by Benett, Léon
Galen's theriac is a typical example of this.
From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
He travelled through Thrace and Macedonia on foot, met the imperial personages, and prepared for them a medicine, for which he seems to have been famous, and which is spoken of as the theriac.
From Fathers of Biology by McRae, Charles
Ancient medicine looked first of all for the universal panacea and boiled theriac; contemporary medicine dissects, uses the microscope, and experiments, recognizes no panacea, accepts barely a few specifics.
From Criminal Psychology; a manual for judges, practitioners, and students by Gross, Hans Gustav Adolf
Whenever any compound was for any reason spoiled in the drug store, the rule was, "Put that aside for the theriac."
From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
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.
