φαρμακεία

Forms

φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ (pharmakeíā) f (genitive φᾰρμᾰκείᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek φαρμακεύω (pharmakeúō) + -ία (-ía), the action noun of the verb “to give drugs, to poison, to bewitch”, which comes from φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, remedy, poison, charm”).^[1][2][3] The Etymologicum Magnum gives the same chain, but derives the verb from φαρμακός (pharmakós).^[4]

Beekes considers the word for “drug” Pre-Greek: its first meaning cannot be fixed, and the Hesychian gloss φόρβια (phórbia, “drugs”) shows the variation of ⟨α⟩ with ⟨ο⟩ and of ⟨μ⟩ with ⟨β⟩ typical of substrate words^[2]; Chantraine and Schwyzer had already argued for a foreign origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Hippocratic writings of the 5th century BC, for the use of drugs, especially purgatives.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle it means medical treatment with drugs^[5][8]; Aristotle calls emetics “upward” drugging, and uses it figuratively of games as a remedy for the fatigue of work.^[5][8] Plato extends it to any use of drugs, potions or spells, and in Demosthenes and Polybius it is poisoning, which Polybius lists among the crimes that needed a public inquiry.^[5][8] In Athens a death caused by a drug given by one's own hand could be prosecuted as murder before the Areopagus.^[9] Polybius also uses it of the bewildered state of a nation in crisis.^[8][10] The grammarian Ammonius distinguishes it from γοητεία (goēteía): φαρμακεία does harm through a poisonous drug, γοητεία through invocations and incantations.^[11]

The Septuagint uses it for the sorcery of Pharaoh's magicians and of Babylon.^[12][3] In the New Testament it is sorcery: Paul lists it with idolatry among the works of the flesh, and Revelation says that all nations were deceived by Babylon's sorcery.^[10][13][3] Coptic borrowed it in the sense of magic.^[14][15]

Modern Greek keeps φαρμακεία (farmakeía) as a learned and legal word for poisoning as a crime.^[16][17] English pharmacy comes from it through Medieval Latin pharmacia and Old French.^[18]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Aphorisms use it for treatment with purgatives.^[5][6][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of drugs, potions and spells, and Xenophon of the giving of medicines.^[5][8][6][7]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of poisoning, and Aristotle of emetics and, figuratively, of a remedy.^[5][8][7]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of poisoning as a crime and of a state of bewitchment.^[5][8][7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it of sorcery, in Galatians and in Revelation.^[10][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Soranus uses it of drugs taken to cause abortion.^[5][7]
• Late 14th century – English pharmacy is first recorded, from Medieval Latin and Old French.^[18]
• Modern Greek – φαρμακεία (farmakeía) is a learned and legal word for poisoning.^[16][17]

Meanings

Noun

1. The use or giving of drugs, especially purgatives and emetics; medical treatment.^[5][8]
2. The use of any kind of drugs, potions or spells.^[5]
3. Poisoning^[5][8]; (concrete) a poison.^[5][8]
4. (figurative) A remedy.^[5]
5. A state of bewitchment or distraction.^[8]
6. (Septuagint, New Testament) Sorcery, magic arts.^[10][12][13]

Related words

• φάρμακον (phármakon)
• φαρμακεύω (pharmakeúō)
• φαρμακεύς (pharmakeús)
• φαρμακίς (pharmakís)
• English pharmacy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
4. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
11. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
12. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
13. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
14. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
15. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
16. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
17. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
18. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com