Nostrum

//ˈnɑ.stɹəm// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 2
    patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable wordnet
  3. 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. 4
    hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists wordnet

Etymology

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

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