nostrum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a medicine of secret or doubtful composition that is promoted as an effective remedy

   The vendor claimed that his nostrum could cure every common ailment.

2. 2
   noun

   a favored but simplistic or ineffective remedy for a social or political problem

   The committee rejected austerity as a familiar nostrum rather than a workable policy.

A learned borrowing from Latin nostrum, "ours," the neuter form of noster. It was used elliptically for nostrum remedium, "our remedy," in sellers' claims for proprietary medicines; skepticism about such claims produced the modern disparaging senses.

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