materia medica

views updated May 11 2018

materia medica the body of remedial substances used in the practice of medicine; the study of the origin and properties of these substances. Recorded from the late 17th century, the phrase is modern Latin, translating Greek hulē iatrikē ‘healing material’, the title of a work by the 1st century Greek physician and pharmacologist Dioscorides.

materia medica

views updated May 29 2018

materia medica remedies used in medicine. XVII. modL., tr. Gr. húlē iatrikḗ healing material; see MATTER, MEDICAL.

materia medica

views updated May 18 2018

materia medica (mă-teer-iă med-ik-ă) n. the study of drugs used in medicine and dentistry, including pharmacognosy, pharmacy, pharmacology, and therapeutics.