Pharmacopole

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A seller of drugs and medicines, especially one who keeps and dispenses remedies in a shop
2. Someone who trades in medicinal preparations and pharmaceutical goods for customers
3. A dealer or vendor who supplies medicines, often in the role of an apothecary

Etymology: The Greek word "pharmakopōlēs" was built from two familiar parts: "pharmakon", which could mean a drug, but also a charm or enchantment, and "pōlēs", a seller or dealer, as in "monopoly" and "-monger". Together they described someone who sold drugs, which is why the same root that gives us "pharmacy" and "pharmacology" once carried a faintly magical sense alongside its medical one. The word passed into Latin as "pharmacopola" and from there into English, where "pharmacopole" is a doublet of "pharmacopolist", the same Greek-derived word arriving by a second route with a different ending. The two forms have existed side by side in English, so the Latin-based spelling and the more Greek-looking one both describe the same trade.

Synonyms: pharmacist, druggist, chemist, apothecary