Mithridate
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of various historical medicines, typically an electuary compounded with various poison, believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote. countable, historical, uncountable
"Auicen saythe; There be certeyne medicins... which wyl not suffre poyson to approche nere the harte, as triacle and Metridate."
- 2 Any of various historical medicines, typically an electuary compounded with various poison, believed to derive from Mithridates VI and to serve as a universal antidote.; Synonym of cure. archaic, broadly, countable, figuratively, historical, uncountable
"The contemplation was a mithridate to a pestered conceipted minde."
- 3 Ellipsis of mithridate mustard. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, obsolete, rare, uncountable
Example
More examples"Auicen saythe; There be certeyne medicins... which wyl not suffre poyson to approche nere the harte, as triacle and Metridate."
Etymology
From Middle English mitridate and methridat, from Old French mithridat, from Late Latin mithridatum and mithridatium, from Latin Mithridātīus (“of or related to Mithridates”), from Mithridātēs + -ius, from Ancient Greek Μιθριδάτης (Mithridátēs), the Greek form of the name of Mithridates VI of Pontus. Doublet of mithridatium, mithridatum, and mithridaticon.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.