antidote

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French antidote, also antidot, and directly borrowed from Latin antidotum, also antidotus,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτον (antídoton, “a remedy, something given against”),^[3][5][6] the noun use of ἀντίδοτος (antídotos, “given against”).^[2][7][8] The OED notes that the French word is recorded in Old French from the 13th century, and that the Greek noun was short for a phrase meaning "a dose given as a remedy".^[2] The Greek adjective is made of ἀντί (antí, “against”) and δοτός (dotós, “given”),^[5][2] after ἀντιδιδόναι (antididónai, “to give in return; to give as a remedy”),^[2][6][4] from διδόναι (didónai, “to give”),^[5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *dō- (“to give”).^[6][3] Merriam-Webster gives the Middle English forms antidot and antidotum,^[9] and Etymonline finds the Latin form antidotum used in English about 1400.^[3] The word is related to dose, anecdote and donation.^[5][10][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medicine given to reverse or neutralize the effects of a poison: before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[2][4] Barnhart dates it probably before 1425,^[11] and Etymonline to the early 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant a remedy against poison, and at first also against disease: the Shorter Oxford notes the formerly wider sense.^[8][2] The figurative sense, anything that counteracts an unwanted condition, is recorded from 1515,^[2] and had already existed in French from the mid 13th century and in Latin from the 5th.^[2] From 1593, in Nashe, the noun was followed by against, for or to, naming what it counteracts.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as a medicine given to expel the mischiefs of another, as of poison, and quoted Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.^[12] A verb to antidote, after Latin and French verbs, followed in 1620,^[2] and in slang the noun was a very plain woman (around 1698) and, in the United States, a drink (1894).^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – a medicine that counteracts a poison.^[2][4] Etymonline finds the Latin form antidotum about 1400.^[3]
• 1515 – figurative, anything that counteracts an unwanted condition.^[2]
• 1593 – followed by against, for or to.^[2]
• 1620 – verb, to give an antidote to; to counteract a poison.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1630.^[9]
• c. 1698 – slang, a very plain woman.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A remedy or medicine that counteracts the effects of a poison: There is no antidote for this kind of venom.^[9][14][2]
2. Anything that relieves, prevents or counteracts a harmful or unwanted condition: Walking in the hills was her antidote to stress.^[9][14][2]

Verb

1. To counteract or neutralize a poison or an evil, especially by means of an antidote.^[9][2][8]
2. To provide someone with an antidote.^[9][2]

Word family

• antidotal
• antidotally

Related words

• dose
• anecdote
• donation
• date
• antidotary

Usage notes

The noun may be followed by to, for or against to name what it counteracts.^[15][2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin