Meanings
nounmithridatism (uncountable)
- uncountableThe practice of gradually ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison in order to build immunity.First known use 1851
Some argue that vaccines are a form of mithridatism; this is generally considered incorrect.
Synonyms: mithridatization, mithridatisation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe practice of gradually ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison in order to build immunity.
Also see
Origin
From Mithridates (referring to Mithridates VI of Pontus) + -ism.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French mithridatisation, mithridatisme
- mithridatisationthe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
- mithridatismethe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
Italian mitridatizzazione, mitridatismo
- mitridatizzazionethe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
- mitridatismothe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
Polish mitrydatyzm
- mitrydatyzmthe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
Spanish mitridatización, mitridatismo
- mitridatizaciónthe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
- mitridatismothe practice of ingesting successively greater amounts of a poison
Cite this entry
APA
mithridatism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithridatism
MLA
“mithridatism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithridatism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mithridatism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithridatism.
Source: mithridatism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.