Definition of Apothicary

Definition of Apothicary

A*poth"e*ca*ry (&?;), n.; pl. Apothecaries. [OE. apotecarie, fr. LL. apothecarius, fr. L. apotheca storehouse, Gr. apo, fr. &?; to put away; &?; from + &?; to put: cf. F. apothicaire, OF. apotecaire. See Thesis.] One who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes.

&fist; In England an apothecary is one of a privileged class of practitioners -- a kind of sub-physician. The surgeon apothecary is the ordinary family medical attendant. One who sells drugs and makes up prescriptions is now commonly called in England a druggist or a pharmaceutical chemist.

Apothecaries' weight, the system of weights by which medical prescriptions were formerly compounded. The pound and ounce are the same as in Troy weight; they differ only in the manner of subdivision. The ounce is divided into 8 drams, 24 scruples, 480 grains. See Troy weight.

- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

APOTHECARY, n. The physician's accomplice, undertaker's benefactor
and grave worm's provider.

When Jove sent blessings to all men that are,
And Mercury conveyed them in a jar,
That friend of tricksters introduced by stealth
Disease for the apothecary's health,
Whose gratitude impelled him to proclaim:
"My deadliest drug shall bear my patron's name!"

G.J.

- 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

APOTHECARY. To talk like an apothecary; to use hard or
gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation
of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this
profession, who are commonly as superficial in their
learning as they are pedantic in their language.

- The Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce)

a person who makes and sells drugs and/or medicines
a drugstore; pharmacy

- The Nuttall Encyclopedia

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