mithridate
/ˈmɪθrəˌdeɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of various historical medicines, typically an electuary compounded with various poison, believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any of various historical medicines, typically an electuary compounded with various poison, believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote.
Archaic; Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Auicen saythe; There be certeyne medicins... which wyl not suffre poyson to approche nere the harte, as triacle and Metridate."
- "After I had thus evacuated the Plethora, and diſpoſed her body for Mercurialls more operative, I gave her each morning and evening a few grains of Mercur. diaphoret. in a bolus with conſ. lujule and Mithridate [...]"
- "Fools may talk of Mythridate, Cordials, Elixers..."
- "What he wanted, in effect, was a universal antidote, which medical science has for years referred to as a mithridate."
- "The contemplation was a mithridate to a pestered conceipted minde."
- "That which maketh me most both to sorrow and wonder, is that musick (a methridat for melancholy) should make him mad."
Etymology
From Middle English mitridate and methridat, from Old French mithridat, from Late Latin mithridatum and mithridatium, from Latin Mithridātīus (“of or related to Mithridates”), from Mithridātēs + -ius, from Ancient Greek Μιθριδάτης (Mithridátēs), the Greek form of the name of Mithridates VI of Pontus. Doublet of mithridatium, mithridatum, and mithridaticon.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: mitridate, mithridat, mithridatum, Mithridātīus, Μιθριδάτης
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɪθrəˌdeɪt/
- British English: /ˈmɪθrɪdeɪt/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.
Inflected Forms
mithridates (plural)
mithridat (alternative)
mithrydate (alternative)
mitridat (alternative)
mitridate (alternative)
mithrydat (alternative)
methridat (alternative)
methridate (alternative)
metridat (alternative)
metridate (alternative)
medridate (alternative)
methredate (alternative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
candy mithridate
mithridate confection
mithridate cress
mithridate julep
mithridate mustard
mithridate pennywort