theriac
Plural: theriacs
Noun
- A medical compound or antidote; also, molasses.
- 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.
- A hyponym of panacea.
- Synonym of antidote, particularly (pseudoscience) those incorporating snakemeat to cure snakebite.
- Synonym of molasses.
Adj
- Synonym of theriacal: of or related to theriac.
- Synonym of medicinal.
Examples
- Playing the obscure word THERIAC earned him major points in Scrabble, sweet as molasses.
- Theriac was essentially homeopathic in its supposed function, being an improvement on mithridate by virtue of containing more poisons.
Origin / Etymology
From Medieval Latin theriacum, from Ancient Greek θηριακὸν (thēriakòn) and Late Latin theriaca, from Ancient Greek θηριακὴ (thēriakḕ, “of or related to poisonous reptiles”), from θηρίον (thēríon, “little beast”) + -κός (-kós), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”) + -ίον (-íon, diminutive suffix). Doublet of theriaca.
Synonyms
Venice treacle, antidote, medicinal, mithridate, molasses, particularly, theriaca, theriacal, treacle
Scrabble Score: 12
theriac: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtheriac: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
theriac: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary