theriaca

T1H4E1R1I1A1C3A1

A form of theriac — A universal antidote against all poisons, particularly medicines considered to derive from a recipe of the Roman physician Andromachus and representing an improvement on mithridate.

OriginLate Latin theriaca ← Ancient Greek θηριακή →
Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nountheriaca (countable and uncountable, plural theriacas or theriacae)

plural theriacas · plural theriacae

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative spelling of theriac.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
theriac

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekθηριακή“of or related to poisonous reptiles”
  2. Late Latintheriaca
  3. Englishtheriaca

From Late Latin theriaca, from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “of or related to poisonous reptiles”), from θηρίον (thēríon, “little beast”) + -κός (-kós), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”) + -ίον (-íon, diminutive suffix). Doublet of theriac; compare treacle.

More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Iracheta
Cite this entry
APA

theriaca. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theriaca

MLA

“theriaca.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theriaca. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “theriaca,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theriaca.

Source: theriaca on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.