alexipharmic

Etymology

A variant of alexipharmac +‎ -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).^[1] Alexipharmac is borrowed from the following:^[2]

• As a noun, from Middle French alexipharmaque (modern French alexipharmaque (archaic)), and from its etymon Latin alexipharmacon (“antidote”) (whence Late Latin alexipharmacum), from Ancient Greek ἀλεξῐφᾰ́ρμᾰκον (alexĭphắrmăkon, “antidote; (generally) remedy; charm, spell”), a noun use of the neuter of ἀλεξῐφᾰ́ρμᾰκος (alexĭphắrmăkos, “acting as an antidote”), from ἀλέξειν (aléxein) (the active infinitive of ἀλέξω (aléxō, “to defend, guard, protect; to help; to keep off, turn aside, ward off”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂lek- (“to protect”)) + φάρμᾰκον (phármăkon, “drug, whether healing or poisonous; charm, potion, spell; colour, dye”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming certain types of adjectives).
• As an adjective, from French alexipharmaque (archaic), and from its etymon Late Latin alexipharmacus, from Ancient Greek ἀλεξιφάρμακος (alexiphármakos) (see above).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˌlɛksɪˈfɑːmɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˌlɛksəˈfɑɹmɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)mɪk
• Hyphenation: alex‧i‧pharm‧ic

Noun

alexipharmic (plural alexipharmics)

1. (pharmacology, chiefly archaic or historical, also figuratively) Synonym of alexipharmac (“a medical remedy for protecting the body, or an antidote, against harmful substances, especially a poison or venom (specifically, that of a snake)”); an antidote.

   Synonyms: (all archaic or historical) alexipharmacal, alexipharmacon, alexipharmakon, alexipharmacum

Adjective

alexipharmic (comparative more alexipharmic, superlative most alexipharmic)

1. (pharmacology, chiefly archaic or historical) Synonym of alexipharmac (“of or pertaining to an alexipharmac; also, acting as an alexipharmac by protecting against or warding off the ill effects of a harmful substance, especially a poison or venom”)

   Synonyms: (both archaic or historical) alexipharmacal, alexipharmical

References

Further reading

• antidote on Wikipedia.Wikipedia