materia medica
(used with a plural verb) the remedial substances employed in medicine.
(used with a singular verb)Also called pharmacognosy . the science dealing with the sources, physical characteristics, uses, and doses of drugs.
Origin of materia medica
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use materia medica in a sentence
Of all classes of the materia medica, none are more uncertain in their action than expectorants.
A copy of materia-medica and a Latin dictionary were the only guides to the beginner of a medical career in those days.
Watch Yourself Go By | Al. G. FieldAbout the middle of the fifteenth century flourished Saladino, famous as an authority on materia medica.
An Epitome of the History of Medicine | Roswell ParkHe acknowledged good in all of them, and he welcomed most of them in preference to materia medica.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineThe time had come for a separation of the two subjects of Botany and materia medica.
British Dictionary definitions for materia medica
/ (məˈtɪərɪə ˈmɛdɪkə) /
the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs
the drugs used in the treatment of disease
Origin of materia medica
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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