medication
(mɛdɪˈkeɪʃən)
[ad. L. medicātion-em, n. of action f. medicāre, medicārī: see medicate v. Cf. F. médication.]
1. The action of treating medically or subjecting to the action of medicaments.
| 1603 Sir C. Heydon Jud. Astrol. ii. 99 So doth Galen attribute much to Homericall medication. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. xiii. 222 During those dayes, all medication or use of Physick is to be declined. 1831 J. Davies Manual Mat. Med. 225 Hemorrhage, agitation, fever, &c. &c. often attend this medication. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xli, She hoped that her body might escape medication. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 604 It is better to assist the external measures by internal medication. |
| fig. 1804 Mitford Inquiry 158 Rarely indeed more than three lines together, even of Chaucer's, are found wholly unwanting medication. |
b. Applied to treatment of plants. Also concr., something used for ‘medication’. ? Obs.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §500 The Watering of the Plant oft, with an Infusion of the Medecine. This..may have more force than the rest; Because the Medication is oft renewed. 1796 New Ann. Reg. 137 The cure [for animalcules]..is rubbing off with the lard medication. Ibid., I have formerly quite removed the canker from some nonpareils, which, after three years medication, threw out shoots a yard long. |
2. ‘The act of tincturing or impregnating with medicinal ingredients’ (J.); the infusion of medicinal substances.
| 1755 in Johnson. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 37 Meanwhile arrangements are to be made for..the occasional supply of steam and for its medication with eucalyptus. |
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Add: 3. A drug or drugs prescribed or given as medical treatment.
| 1934 in Webster. 1955 B. Spock Baby & Child Care 35 The doctor may recommend some medication to apply after nursing. 1965 Illinois Med. Jrnl. CXXVIII. 414/1 Resistance to anticonvulsant medications. 1983 J. Hennessy Torvill & Dean 28 Chris had taken little or no medication, because of the fear of becoming ensnared in a drug test. 1987 My Weekly 21 Feb. 28/2 The patients at Burford can take their own medication. 1994 Health Naturally (Nobel, Ont.) Feb.–Mar. 12/1 The most common medications prescribed for pain are aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. |