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pharmacum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pharmacum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 325–c. 403 AD, Oribasius
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek φάρμακον
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek φάρμακον
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek φάρμακον
Latin pharmacum

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpʰar.ma.kũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfar.ma.kum][1]

Forms

pharmacum n (genitive pharmacī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, charm, enchantment”).[1][2][3] Köbler compares, for the Greek word, Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to cut, scratch, rub”).[2][4] The TLL gives Romanian farmec (“magic power or action”) as its continuant.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Late Latin, in the Latin Oribasius,[2][3] meaning a healing drug or remedy.[3]

Semantic evolution

Wiktionary calls it post-Augustan.[1] In the Latin medical texts, the Latin Hippocrates and Oribasius, it is a healing medicine, often rendering Greek pharmakon or pharmakeia;[3] it is usually spelt with ⟨f⟩ in the manuscripts.[3] It could also mean a poison.[1][5][6] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is a remedy or medicine,[7] and medieval Latin kept both senses, poison and drug.[6] British medieval writers spell it farmacum and use it for a drug in general, or more narrowly for a laxative.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 325–c. 403 AD – The Latin Oribasius uses it of medicines.[3][2]
  • Medieval Latin – It means both poison and drug.[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A drug, medicine, remedy.[3][1][7]
  2. A poison.[1][5][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin, medicine) A laxative.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pharmacum.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pharmacum. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·