φάρμακον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

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.

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?)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰár.ma.kon/ → /ˈɸar.ma.kon/ → /ˈfar.ma.kon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰár.ma.kon/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰar.ma.kon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɸar.ma.kon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈfar.ma.kon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈfar.ma.kon/

Noun

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

Declension

Second declension of τὸ φάρμᾰκον; τοῦ φαρμᾰ́κου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ φάρμᾰκον tò phármakon	τὼ φαρμᾰ́κω tṑ pharmákō	τᾰ̀ φάρμᾰκᾰ tà phármaka
Genitive	τοῦ φαρμᾰ́κου toû pharmákou	τοῖν φαρμᾰ́κοιν toîn pharmákoin	τῶν φαρμᾰ́κων tôn pharmákōn
Dative	τῷ φαρμᾰ́κῳ tôi pharmákōi	τοῖν φαρμᾰ́κοιν toîn pharmákoin	τοῖς φαρμᾰ́κοις toîs pharmákois
Accusative	τὸ φάρμᾰκον tò phármakon	τὼ φαρμᾰ́κω tṑ pharmákō	τᾰ̀ φάρμᾰκᾰ tà phármaka
Vocative	φάρμᾰκον phármakon	φαρμᾰ́κω pharmákō	φάρμᾰκᾰ phármaka
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• 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)

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “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^[1], 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 [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011