pharmacognosy

[ fahr-muh-kog-nuh-see ]

noun

1. materia medica ( def 2 ).

pharmacognosy

/ ˌfɑːməkɒɡˈnɒstɪk; ˌfɑːməˈkɒɡnəsɪ /

noun

1. the branch of pharmacology concerned with crude drugs of plant and animal origin

Derived Forms

• pharmacognostic, adjective
• ˌpharmaˈcognosist, noun

Other Words From

• pharma·cogno·sist noun
• phar·ma·cog·nos·tic [fahr-m, uh, -kog-, nos, -tik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pharmacognosy¹

First recorded in 1835–45; pharmaco- + -gnos(is) + -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of pharmacognosy¹

C19: from pharmaco- + gnosy, from Greek gnosis knowledge

Example Sentences

A 2013 study in Pharmacognosy Reviews found that ambrein, a major ingredient in the Arab aphrodisiac Ambra grisea, "contains a tricyclic triterpene alcohol which increases the concentration of several anterior pituitary hormones and serum testosterone."

From Salon

Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica,” or “Bencao gangmu,” first published in 1596, is a Chinese pharmacopoeia and the most celebrated book in the Chinese tradition of pharmacognosy, or the study of medicinal plants.

From Salon

I am a professor emeritus who chaired the pharmacognosy department at Ole Miss for 15 years before retiring.

From Seattle Times

I clicked on researcher after researcher, ruling out one after another—one just because he didn’t list an e-mail or any contact information, another because she wrote articles filled with words I didn’t understand, words like pharmacognosy, methanolic, and eosin.

From Literature

To dramatize a crusade which the State of Pennsylvania started last week against the hypnotic drug called marijuana,*Philadelphia's Temple University's professor of Pharmacognosy, James Clyde Munch, undertook to describe its effects to students.

From Time Magazine Archive