What does "nostrum" mean?

A medicine or remedy in conventional use which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects.

What is a synonym for "nostrum"?

Common synonyms include: panacea, catholic, catholicon, cure, cure all, cure-all.

//ˈnɑ.stɹəm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

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

"Near-synonyms: paternoster, patent medicine, snake oil"

Learned borrowing from Latin nostrum (“ours”), nominative neuter of noster (“our, ours”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.