different between medicine vs mountebank

English

Alternative forms

• medicin (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English medicin, borrowed from Middle French medicine, from Old French medecine, from Latin medic?na (“the healing art, medicine, a physician's shop, a remedy, medicine”), feminine of medic?nus (“of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a physician or surgeon”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”).

The extended sense of "Indigenous magic" is a calque of Ojibwe mashkiki (“medicine”) or mide (or cognates in related languages) when used in compounds such as Grand Medicine Society, medicine lodge, medicine dance, medicine bag, medicine wheel, medicine man, Medicine Line, and bad medicine or place names such as Medicine Hat, Medicine Creek, etc.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ?med-s?n, ?med-sn, IPA^(key): /?med(?).s?n/, /?med(?).sn?/
• (US) enPR: ?med-?-s?n, IPA^(key): /?m?.d?.s?n/
  • (Weak-vowel merger) IPA^(key): /?m?.d?.s?n/

Noun

medicine (countable and uncountable, plural medicines)

1. A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way.
2. A treatment or cure.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Innovation

     Surely every medicine is an innovation; and he that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils […]

3. The study of the cause, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease or illness.

4. The profession of physicians, surgeons and related specialisms; those who practice medicine.
5. Ritual magic used, as by a medicine man, to promote a desired outcome in healing, hunting, warfare etc.
6. Among the Native Americans, any object supposed to give control over natural or magical forces, to act as a protective charm, or to cause healing.
7. (obsolete) Black magic, superstition.
8. (obsolete) A philter or love potion.
9. (obsolete) A physician.
10. (slang) Recreational drugs, especially alcoholic drinks.

Synonyms

• (substance): drug, prescription, pharmaceutical, elixir
• (treatment): regimen, course, program, prescription
• See also Thesaurus:medicine
• See also Thesaurus:pharmaceutical

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

medicine (third-person singular simple present medicines, present participle medicining, simple past and past participle medicined)

1. (rare, obsolete) To treat with medicine.

See also

• therapy
• panacea

References

• Prescription Desk Reference, Prescription Drug Information:
• “medicine” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "medicine" in the Merriam-Webster On-line dictionary
• "medicine" in the Hutchinson Encyclopaedia, Helicon Publishing LTD 2007.
• medicine in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• medicine at OneLook Dictionary Search

Italian

Noun

medicine f

1. plural of medicina

Anagrams

• endemici

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French medecine, with the i added back to reflect the original Latin medic?na.

Noun

medicine f (plural medicines)

1. medicine (act of practising medical treatment)

Descendants

• French: médecine

Spanish

Verb

medicine

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of medicinar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of medicinar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of medicinar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of medicinar.

English

Etymology

From Italian montambanco (“quack who mounts a bench to hawk his wares”) contracted from monta-in-banco (“mount on bench”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ma?nt??bæ?k/

Noun

mountebank (plural mountebanks)

1. One who sells dubious medicines.
   • 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull

     There is nothing so impossible in Nature but mountebanks will undertake; nothing so incredible but they will affirm.

2. One who sells by deception; a con artist; a charlatan.
   • 1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part III: “The Mayors”, chapter 7, page 106, ¶ 13

     “Are you allowing yourselves to be fooled by this mountebank, this harlequin? Do you cringe before a religion compounded of clouds and moonbeams? This man is an imposter and the Galactic Spirit he speaks of a fraud of the imagination devised to——”

3. (obsolete) An acrobat.

Quotations

* For quotations using this term, see Citations:mountebank.

Translations

See also

• patent medicine
• snake oil
• quack

Verb

mountebank (third-person singular simple present mountebanks, present participle mountebanking, simple past and past participle mountebanked)

1. (intransitive) To act as a mountebank.
2. (transitive) To cheat by boasting and false pretenses.

Derived terms

• mountebankery

References