φάρμακον

Unclear etymology, but most likely derived from Proto-Hellenic *pʰármakon. Cognate with Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀔𐀒 (pa-ma-ko /⁠pʰármakon⁠/).

Based on α/ο and μ/β variations found in the likely-related φόρβαντα (phórbanta, “doctor's medicine”), as well as the rather strange structure of the word, R. S. P. Beekes proposes Pre-Greek origin. Foreign origin is also supported by Chantraine, Furnee, and Schwyzer.^[1]

An older theory by Pokorny (1959) connects the word to the Greek root φαρ-, supposedly also found in φάρος (pháros, “plough”) and φάρυγξ (phárunx, “throat”), from a Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to cut, pierce, scrape”), i.e. a medicinal herb or root as something cut off or dug up, and compares Proto-Germanic *burōną (“to drill”) (which he takes as the result of a conflation with *bazją (“berry”)) and Latin feriō (“hit, cut, slay, strike”). Compare also Latvian burt (“to carve (marks, on a tree), to conjure magic”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

φάρμᾰκον • (phármakon) n (genitive φαρμᾰ́κου); second declension

1. A drug, whether healing or noxious
2. A healing drug, medicine, remedy
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia :

     τῶν δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρρωστημάτων καὶ παθῶν ἡ φιλοσοφία μόνη φάρμακόν ἐστι.

     tôn dè tês psukhês arrhōstēmátōn kaì pathôn hē philosophía mónē phármakón esti.

     but for the soul's illnesses and sufferings, the only remedy is philosophy. (@perseus.tuftus.edu)

3. A potion, charm, spell
4. A deadly drug, poison
5. A dye, color

• φαρμακάω (pharmakáō)
• φαρμακεία (pharmakeía)
• φαρμακεύς (pharmakeús)
• φαρμακευτικός (pharmakeutikós)
• φαρμακεύω (pharmakeúō)
• φαρμάκιον (pharmákion)
• φαρμακίς (pharmakís)
• φαρμακοθήκη (pharmakothḗkē)
• φαρμακοποσία (pharmakoposía)
• φαρμακοπώλης (pharmakopṓlēs)
• φαρμακός (pharmakós)
• φαρμακοτρίβης (pharmakotríbēs)
• φαρμακοφόρος (pharmakophóros)
• φαρμακόω (pharmakóō)
• φαρμακώδης (pharmakṓdēs)
• φάρμαξις (phármaxis)
• φαρμάσσω (pharmássō)
• τετραφάρμακον (tetraphármakon)

• Greek: φάρμακο (fármako)
• → Latin: pharmacum

• “φάρμακον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “φάρμακον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• φάρμακον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• φάρμακον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “φάρμακον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • alchemy idem, page 22.
  • antidote idem, page 32.
  • balm idem, page 60.
  • bane idem, page 61.
  • charm idem, page 126.
  • colour idem, page 143.
  • cure idem, page 190.
  • dose idem, page 247.
  • drug idem, page 254.
  • enchantment idem, page 270.
  • fascination idem, page 308.
  • lotion idem, page 501.
  • magic idem, page 507.
  • medicine idem, page 521.
  • narcotic idem, page 550.
  • opiate idem, page 576.
  • paint idem, page 589.
  • palliative idem, page 590.
  • physic idem, page 610.
  • pigment idem, page 612.
  • poison idem, page 624.
  • potion idem, page 629.
  • remedy idem, page 692.
  • restorative idem, page 705.
  • salve idem, page 732.
  • soporific idem, page 794.
  • spell idem, page 801.
  • venom idem, page 947.
  • weed idem, page 972.
• “φάρμακον”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• “φάρμακον”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011