pharmacopoeia

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an official reference work that lists medicines and standards or instructions for their preparation, identification, and use

   The revised pharmacopoeia introduced stricter purity standards for the medicine.

2. 2
   noun

   a stock, range, or collection of drugs and medicinal preparations

   The expedition carried a small pharmacopoeia of painkillers, antiseptics, and antivenoms.

From French pharmacopée and post-classical Latin pharmacopoeia, ultimately from Greek pharmakopoiia, "preparation of drugs." The Greek compound joins pharmakon, "drug or medicine," with poiein, "to make."

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