Adjacent Words

Nostrum definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NOS'TRUM, n. [L. from ours.] A medicine, the ingredients of which are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists [syn: panacea, nostrum, catholicon, cure-all]
2: patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, neuter of noster our, ours, from nos we — more at us Date: 1602 1. a medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness 2. a usually questionable remedy or scheme ; panacea <an audience eager to believe he had found the nostrum for all of society's ills — Warren Sloat>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a quack remedy, a patent medicine, esp. one prepared by the person recommending it. 2 a pet scheme, esp. for political or social reform. Etymology: L, neut. of noster our, used in sense 'of our own make'

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nostrum Nos"trum (-tr[u^]m), n.; pl. Nostrums (-tr[u^]mz). [Neut. sing. of L. noster ours, fr. nos we. See Us.] 1. A medicine, the ingredients of which are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor; a quack medicine. 2. Any scheme or device proposed by a quack. The incentives of agitators, the arts of impostors and the nostrums of quacks. --Brougham.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(nostrums) 1. You can refer to ideas or theories about how something should be done as nostrums, especially when you think they are old-fashioned or wrong in some way. (FORMAL) ...yesterday's failed socialist nostrums. N-COUNT: usu pl, oft N of n 2. If you refer to a medicine as a nostrum, you mean that it is not effective or has not been tested in a proper scientific way. ...pills, tablets, and other nostrums claiming to be magic potions. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Quack medicine, patent medicine, arcanum.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A medicine prepared by particular persons only, a quack medicine.