materia medica

== English == === Etymology === From Latin māteria (“material”) + medica (“curative, medical”). === Noun === materia medica (uncountable) (medicine, archaic or historical) Synonym of pharmacology, particularly its development in early modern Europe. === Noun === materia medica pl (plural only) (medicine, archaic or historical) Synonym of medicine: the substances so used, particularly traditional cures prepared from animals and plants such as herbal medicines but inclusive of early drugs. === See also === pharmacopoeia