Meanings
- archaichistoricaluncountablemedicineSynonym of pharmacology, particularly its development in early modern Europe.
Later on, in the Middle Ages, medical knowledge advanced to such an extent that textbooks on materia medica and germane subjects often treated this area of erotica.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 126Synonyms: pharmacology, particularly its development in early modern Europe
- archaichistoricalpluralplural onlymedicineSynonym of medicine: the substances so used, particularly traditional cures prepared from animals and plants such as herbal medicines but inclusive of early drugs.
CHIAN earth, in pharmacy, one of the medicinal earths of the ancients, the name of which is preſerved in the catalogues of the materia medica but of which nothing more than the name has been known for many ages in the ſhops...
1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., volume II, page 1831 more example
Mary Reynolds could list her physician-owner's entire materia medica (the common term for pharmacological supplies) for slaves in one breathː "Dr. Kilpatrick gave sick [slaves] ipecac and asafoetide and oil and turpentine and black fever pills."
2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 66Synonyms: medicine
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of pharmacology, particularly its development in early modern Europe.
nounSynonym of medicine: the substances so used, particularly traditional cures prepared from animals and plants such as herbal medicines but inclusive of early drugs.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe science or study of drugs: their preparation and properties and uses and effects
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
materia medica. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/materia%20medica
“materia medica.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/materia%20medica. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “materia medica,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/materia%20medica.
Source: materia medica on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.