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apothecary

  (ə-pŏth'ĭ-kĕr'ē) pronunciation
n., pl. -ies.
  1. One that prepares and sells drugs and other medicines; a pharmacist.
  2. See pharmacy (sense 2).

[Middle English apotecarie, from Old French apotecaire and from Medieval Latin apothēcārius, both from Late Latin, clerk, from Latin apothēca, storehouse, from Greek apothēkē : apo-, away; see apo– + thēkē, receptacle.]


 
 

A pharmacist; a person who compounds and dispenses drugs.


 
Devil's Dictionary: apothecary
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

The physician's accomplice, undertaker's benefactor and grave worm's provider.

    When Jove sent blessings to all men that are,
    And Mercury conveyed them in a jar,
    That friend of tricksters introduced by stealth
    Disease for the apothecary's health,
    Whose gratitude impelled him to proclaim:
    "My deadliest drug shall bear my patron's name!"
                                                                  G.J.


 
Word Tutor: apothecary
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A pharmacist.

pronunciation Check with the apothecary before you mix your medicines.

 
Wikipedia: apothecary
Interior of an apothecary's shop. Illustration from Illustrated History of Furniture, From the Earliest to the Present Time from 1893 by Litchfield, Frederick, (1850-1930)
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Interior of an apothecary's shop. Illustration from Illustrated History of Furniture, From the Earliest to the Present Time from 1893 by Litchfield, Frederick, (1850-1930)
A historical re-enactor portraying a 19th century apothecary in Old Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Enlarge
A historical re-enactor portraying a 19th century apothecary in Old Salem, North Carolina, USA.

Apothecary (IPA: /əˈpɒθɪkəri/ or ah-POTH-i-kerry) is an historical name for a medical practitioner who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist.

In addition to pharmacy the apothecary also offered general medical advice and a range of services that are now performed solely by other specialist practitioners, such as surgery and midwifery. Apothecaries often operated through a retail shop, which in addition to ingredients for medicines, would also sell tobacco and patent medicines.

In its investigation of herbal and chemical ingredients, the work of the apothecary may be regarded as a precursor of the modern sciences of chemistry and pharmacology, prior to the formulation of the scientific method.

From the 15th century the apothecary gained the status of a skilled practitioner, but by the end of the 19th century the medical professions had taken on their current institutional form, with defined roles for doctors and surgeons, and the role of the apothecary was more narrowly conceived as that of dispensing pharmacist.

In England, the apothecaries merited their own livery company, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, founded in 1617. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain when she passed the Society's examination in 1865.

Apothecaries used the now obsolete apothecaries' measure to provide precise weighing of small quantities.

The word Apothecary is still used in modern times, in Sweden the pharmacies are heavily regulated and driven in a monopoly fashion. These are called Apotek

Noted apothecaries

See also


 
Translations: Apothecary

Dansk (Danish)
n. - apoteker

Nederlands (Dutch)
apotheker

Français (French)
n. - apothicaire

Deutsch (German)
n. - Apotheker

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φαρμακοποιός, (ιστ.) φαρμακοτρίφτης

Italiano (Italian)
farmacista

Português (Portuguese)
n. - boticário (m), farmacêutico (m), químico (m)

Русский (Russian)
аптекарь

Español (Spanish)
n. - farmacéutico, boticario

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - apotekare

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
药剂师, 药师

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 藥劑師, 藥師

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 약제사, 약국

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 薬種屋, 薬剤師, 薬店, 薬局

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) صيدليه, صيدلي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רוקח, מכין תרופות‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. The Veterinary Dictionary. Copyright © 2007 by Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Apothecary" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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