apothecary

[ uh-poth-uh-ker-ee ]

noun

, plural a·poth·e·car·ies.

1. a druggist; a pharmacist.
2. a pharmacy or drugstore.
3. (especially in England and Ireland) a druggist licensed to prescribe medicine.

apothecary

/ əˈpɒθɪkərɪ /

noun

1. an archaic word for pharmacist
2. law a chemist licensed by the Society of Apothecaries of London to prescribe, prepare, and sell drugs

Word History and Origins

Origin of apothecary¹

1325–75; Middle English (< Old French ) < Medieval Latin apothēcārius seller of spices and drugs, Late Latin: shopkeeper, equivalent to Latin apothēc ( a ) shop, storehouse (< Greek apothḗkē; apo-, theca ) + -ārius -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of apothecary¹

C14: from Old French apotecaire, from Late Latin apothēcārius warehouseman, from apothēca, from Greek apothēkē storehouse

Example Sentences

There are more than 50 Chinese herbal apothecaries in the Los Angeles area, according to Willie So, sales director of Chinatown-based Solstice Medicine, a leading distributor of traditional Chinese medicine products since 1979.

From Los Angeles Times

Called the Bohemian Chemist, it’s a dispensary with the vibe of an Art Deco apothecary.

From Los Angeles Times

A few minutes later, I walked up the street to an herbal apothecary that offers rose quartz crystals alongside dropper-bottle tinctures labeled “Happiness.”

From Los Angeles Times

Sweethearts — also known as conversation hearts — were created in 1847, when a Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase invented a machine that made it easier to create apothecary lozenges.

From Salon

Paleontologists first discovered Gigantopithecus in the mid-1930s in a Hong Kong apothecary where the ape’s unusually large molars were being hawked as “dragon teeth.”

From New York Times