Medicated

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Created using substances designed to alleviate medical conditions
2. Modified by incorporating therapeutic agents for health improvement
3. Altered by adding medicinal substances to help treat a health issue

Etymology: "Medicated" is the past form of "medicate," which is built from Latin "medicō," meaning "to heal" or "to cure," with the English verb-forming suffix "-ate" added on. The Latin root is itself tied to "medicus," the physician, so the chain runs from the healer to the act of treating someone with a remedy. The surprise lies in the suffix rather than the root. "-ate" was attached to Latin-derived stems to make English verbs, and "medicate" follows that pattern, turning the idea of curing into a verb meaning to treat with medicine. Adding "-ed" then gives the adjective sense of something that has been dosed or treated, which is why a medicated cream or a medicated shampoo can be described as containing active ingredients.

Synonyms: treated, drugged, pharmaceutical

Antonyms: untreated