Nostrum
/ˈnɑ.stɹəm/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A medicine or remedy in conventional use which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects.
"Near-synonyms: paternoster, patent medicine, snake oil"
- 2 patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable wordnet
- 3 An ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, usually involving political action. broadly
"reformers of church charities [...made] known […] their different nostrums for setting Hiram's Hospital on its feet again."
- 4 hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists wordnet
Example
More examples"Near-synonyms: paternoster, patent medicine, snake oil"
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin nostrum (“ours”), nominative neuter of noster (“our, ours”).