antidote

C2 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˈæn.tɪ.doʊt/ See IPA manual

Freq #7778

Meanings

1

noun
A medicine that stops the harmful effects of a poison.

Doctors gave her the antidote just in time to counter the snake venom.
2

noun
Something that counteracts or fixes a harmful or unpleasant situation.

Laughter is often the best antidote to a stressful day.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a medicine that stops the... counterpoison remedy

2 noun · something that counteracts... remedy

Word family

Forms antidotes

Derived forms antiantidoteantidotaryantidotical

Related forms antidotalantidoticantidotically

Simplified etymology

Antidote entered late Middle English through Latin from Greek antidoton, meaning “given against.” It referred to something administered to counteract the effects of a poison.

Etymology

From Latin antidotum, from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτος (antídotos, “antidote, remedy”), from ἀντιδίδωμι (antidídōmi, “to give in return, repay”), from ἀντί (antí, “against”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Compare French antidote.

*deh₃- Proto-Indo-European antidotum Latin ἀντίδοτος Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine

External links

# antidote

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈæn.tɪ.doʊt/
**Frequency rank:** 7778

## Meanings
1. A medicine that stops the harmful effects of a poison.
2. Something that counteracts or fixes a harmful or unpleasant situation.

## Examples
- Doctors gave her the antidote just in time to counter the snake venom.
- Laughter is often the best antidote to a stressful day.

## Derived Forms
- antiantidote
- antidotary
- antidotical

## Related Forms
- antidotal
- antidotic
- antidotically

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *deh₃-
- Root: antidotum
- Root: ἀντίδοτος

## Etymology
From Latin antidotum, from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτος (antídotos, “antidote, remedy”), from ἀντιδίδωμι (antidídōmi, “to give in return, repay”), from ἀντί (antí, “against”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Compare French antidote.

## AI Etymology
Antidote is from Latin antidotum, from Ancient Greek ἀντίδοτος (antídotos, “antidote, remedy”), from ἀντιδίδωμι (antidídōmi, “to give in return, repay”), from ἀντί (antí, “against”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Compare French antidote. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *deh₃- (Proto-Indo-European), antidotum (Latin), and ἀντίδοτος (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a medicine that stops the harmful effects of a poison and something that counteracts or fixes a harmful or unpleasant situation. The wider family includes derived forms such as antiantidote, antidotary, and antidotical; related words such as antidotal, antidotic, and antidotically.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine

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