Etymologically
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antidote

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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈæn.tɪ.doʊt/[1]

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

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