Etymologically
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pharmacia

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Forms

pharmacia f (genitive pharmaciae); first declension[1][2] The TLL notes that it is mostly spelled fa-.[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φαρμακεία (pharmakeía, “the use of drugs”),[1][3][4][5] from φάρμακον (phármakon, “a drug, charm, enchantment”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Scribonius Largus, in a definition: surgery and dietetics cannot be complete without pharmacia, the part of medicine that uses helpful remedies.[1][4]

Semantic evolution

In Latin medical writing it first named the branch of medicine that heals with remedies, and appears mostly in definitions beside the other branches:[1] Caelius Aurelianus speaks of the rule of remedies that the Greeks call pharmacia, and Isidore of Seville defines it as cure by medicines.[1] It also came to mean a remedy itself, especially the name of a particular remedy, as in the Latin translation of Hippocrates' aphorisms and in Cassius Felix, where it is a purgative.[1]

Medieval Latin used it for a drug,[6] and Neo-Latin for the art of preparing medicines.[2] English took it in the late 14th century, partly through Old French, first for a medicine that purges the body.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it in a definition of the parts of medicine.[1][4]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus speaks of the rule of remedies the Greeks call pharmacia.[1][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it as cure by medicines.[1][4]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as farmacie, the source of pharmacy.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The branch of medicine that heals with drugs or remedies.[1][2]
  2. (Late Latin) A remedy, especially a purgative.[1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A drug.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ a b c Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
  3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill