pastile

Noun

pastille (plural pastilles)

1. A flavoured candy or sweet, often round and somewhat flat in shape.
2. Any small, usually round and somewhat flat, granular piece of material; a tablet.
   • Watercolors of professional quality come in small pastilles of dry pigment, in pans of semi-moist paint, or in tubes or bottles of liquid watercolor.2003, The Complete Drawing & Painting Course, →ISBN, page 201
   1. (historical, specifically) A small pellet containing aromatic substances, burned to diffuse a fragrance or to disinfect or fumigate.
      • At the end he felt faint and sick, and having lit some Algerian pastilles in a pierced copper brazier, he bathed his hands and forehead with a cool musk-scented vinegar.1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
3. (historical, pharmacy) A medicinal pill, originally made of compressed herbs.
   • In the desperate search for amatory satisfactions, the most monstrous ingredients have throughout the ages, been sought and compounded into electuaries and pastilles, philtres and ointments.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 14
4. (pharmacy) A candy- or sweet-like lozenge, which, when sucked, releases substances that soothe a sore throat, and sometimes vapours to help unblock the nose or sinuses.

   Synonyms:

   cough drop, troche

See all 6 meanings of pastille