médicament

Forms

médicament m (plural médicaments)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin medicāmentum (“remedy, drug”).^[2][3][1] The Latin noun comes from medicor (“to treat, heal”), itself from medicus (“physician”).^[4][5] The learned word drove out the popular Old French form megement, recorded in the 13th and 14th centuries.^[2] Picoche counts it among the learned members of the family of médecin, and dates it to the 14th century.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan medicament, Spanish medicamento and Italian medicamento.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1314 in the Chirurgie of the surgeon Henri de Mondeville, already meaning a substance used to treat illness.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its medical sense since the 14th century; in the 16th century Ambroise Paré writes of knowing la vertu des medicaments “the power of medicines”.^[2][5] In the 19th century it was also used, familiarly and figuratively, of a tiresome person or of something that causes boredom, a use Littré records in 1868.^[5][4]

In English medicament is recorded from the mid-15th century, from the French word and directly from Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville's Chirurgie uses it for a remedy.^[2][4]
• 13th–14th centuries – The popular form megement is still found beside it.^[2]
• Mid-15th century – English borrows it as medicament.^[7]
• 16th century – Ambroise Paré writes of the power of medicines.^[5]
• 1868 – Littré records the figurative sense “tiresome person”.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A medicine or drug: an active substance used to prevent or treat an illness, as in Il oublie toujours de prendre ses médicaments.^[8][2]
2. (familiar, dated) A tiresome, disagreeable person, or a cause of boredom.^[4][5]

Word family

• médoc

Related words

• médecin
• médecine
• médicinal
• médication
• médicamenteux
• Latin medicāmentum
• English medicament

Usage notes

In familiar French a medicine is also called médoc.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert