theriac
UK/ˈθɪərɪak/US/ˈθɪriˌæk/
theriac noun: a universal antidote against all poisons, particularly medicines considered to derive from a recipe of the Roman physician Andromachus and representing an improvement on mithridate.
Noun
theriac (countable and uncountable, plural theriacs)
- A universal antidote against all poisons, particularly medicines considered to derive from a recipe of the Roman physician Andromachus and representing an improvement on mithridate.
- This excellent triacle Methridatum is nexte in qualitye and virtue to Theriaca... but onely Theriaca is a little hotter and stronger againste venyme of Snakes.1558, William Bullein, The Government of Health, fol. 120
- Theriaca Andromachi, the Venice or Mithridate treacle...
Theriaca communis, common treacle, or molasses...
Theriaca Londinensis, a cataplasm of cummin seed, bay-berries, germander, snake-root, cloves and honey.1811, John Quincy et al., Quincy's Lexicon-Medicum..., s.v
- A hyponym of panacea.
- Synonym of antidote, particularly (pseudoscience) those incorporating snakemeat to cure snakebite.
- ...ane half vnce of guid auld theriac...1568, Gilbert Skeyne, chapter 7, in Ane Breue Descriptioun of the Pest
- ...the great number of Vipers, brought to the Grand Duke of Toscany for the composing of Theriac or Treacle...1666, Philosophical Transactions, volume I, page 160
- Synonyms:
- antidote, particularly
- Synonym of molasses.
- Synonyms:
- molasses
Adjective
theriac (comparative more theriac, superlative most theriac)
theriac meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Arabic
theriac in Tamil
- நச்சுக்கடி மாற்றுமருந்து, நஞ்சு முறிமருந்து, அனைத்து நோய்களுக்கான மருந்து, சர்வரோகநிவாரணி, பற்பல மருந்துகளும்
theriac in Urdu
- theriac, panacaea, elixir
- تریاق tiryāq
theriac in Arabic
- a supposed universal antidote, distinguished from mithridate
- تِرْيَاق tiryāq
Synonyms of theriac
Forms of theriac
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | theriacs |
| alternative form | theriaca |
| alternative form | theriace |
| alternative form | theriack |
| alternative form | theriaque |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more theriac |
| superlative | most theriac |
Origin of theriac
From Medieval Latin theriacum, from Ancient Greek θηριακὸν (thēriakòn) and Late Latin theriaca, from Ancient Greek θηριακὴ (thēriakḕ, “of or related to poisonous reptiles”), from θηρίον (thēríon, “little beast”) + -κός (-kós), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”) + -ίον (-íon, diminutive suffix). Doublet of theriaca.
Questions about theriac
- What does theriac mean?
- Theriac means a universal antidote against all poisons, particularly medicines considered to derive from a recipe of the Roman physician Andromachus and representing an improvement on mithridate.
- What is theriac in Tamil?
- Theriac in Tamil is நச்சுக்கடி மாற்றுமருந்து, நஞ்சு முறிமருந்து, அனைத்து நோய்களுக்கான மருந்து. See Theriac meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is theriac?
- Theriac can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce theriac?
- Theriac is pronounced /ˈθɪriˌæk/ (US).
- What is the plural of theriac?
- The plural of theriac is theriacs.
Words near theriac in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: theriac (page history and authors); theriac (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تریاق (Urdu) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “theriac.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/theriac. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.