Mithridatum

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌmɪθrɪˈdeɪtəm/

Definitions

1. A substance formulated to bestow immunity against harmful toxins or venoms acts as an antidote that counters their effects
2. This historical remedy is intended to provide protection against various poisons or toxic agents
3. A preparation that aims to offer defense against harmful substances or toxins functions as a countermeasure to neutralize their impact

Etymology: Mithridatum is named after a king who spent his life afraid of being poisoned. Mithridates VI of Pontus, who ruled a kingdom on the Black Sea in the first century BC, was said to have taken small doses of poison daily so that his body would resist any attempt on his life. The word that grew out of his name, through Latin, came to mean a remedy against poisons, a sense that tied the king's personal paranoia to a whole category of medicine. The Greek name Mithridatēs passed into Latin as Mithridātēs, and the Latin adjective Mithridātīus, meaning "of or related to Mithridates," gave rise to the Late Latin noun mithridatium. Medieval and early modern physicians used the form mithridatum for their elaborate compounds, which often contained dozens of ingredients. Mithridate and mithridaticon are doublets: forms of the same word that entered English by different routes and took on slightly different shapes.