pharmacy

English

A pharmacy counter.

Etymology

From Middle English pharmacy, borrowed from Middle French pharmacie (“the art of creating drugs; a drug, especially a laxative”), from Old French farmacie, from Medieval Latin pharmacia, from Ancient Greek φαρμακεία (pharmakeía, “the use of drugs”), from φάρμακον (phármakon, “a drug, charm, enchantment”), of uncertain but likely Pre-Greek origin. Attested since late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑːməsi/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: fär'məsē IPA^(key): /ˈfɑɹməsi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

pharmacy (countable and uncountable, plural pharmacies)

1. (countable) A place where prescription drugs are sold or dispensed.
2. (uncountable) The science of medicinal substances, inclusive of pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, phytochemistry, and forensics.
3. (uncountable) The role or occupation of a pharmacist.

Usage notes

The American drugstore and British and Commonwealth chemist's are more common when referencing a small shop, especially when it is run as a general store that sells food and other goods as well as medicines. The pharmacies operated within hospitals that dispense medicine without acting as a point of sale are sometimes distinguished as dispensaries.

Synonyms

• (drugstore): drugstore (US); chemist, chemist's, chemist's shop (UK); dispensary (dated); druggist's, druggist's shop (US dated); apothecary's, apothecary's shop (UK dated); apothecary (historical or archaic)

Derived terms

• compounding pharmacy
• megapharmacy
• retail pharmacy

 

Related terms

• pharmacist, pharmacian
• pharmacology
• pharmacopolist, pharmacopole

Translations

a place where prescription drugs are dispensed

• Afrikaans: apteek (af)
• Albanian: barnatore (sq) f
• Apache:

  Western Apache: izeeʼ idiihyee

• Arabic: صَيْدَلِيَّة‎ f (ṣaydaliyya)

  Egyptian Arabic: اجزخانه‎ f (agzaḵāna), صيدلية‎ f (ṣaydaliyya)

  Hijazi Arabic: صيدلية‎ f (ṣaydaliyya)

  Moroccan Arabic: فارمسيان‎ m (fārmasyān), صيدلية‎ f (ṣaydaliyya)

• Armenian: դեղատուն (hy) (deġatun), ապտեկա (hy) (apteka) (colloquial)
• Assamese: ফাৰ্মাছী (pharmasi)
• Asturian: botica f, farmacia f
• Azerbaijani: aptek (az), dərmanxana, əczaxana
• Bashkir: дарыухана (darıwxana)
• Basque: farmazia sg, botika sg
• Belarusian: аптэ́ка f (aptéka)
• Bengali: ফার্মেসি (bn) (pharmeśi)
• Bulgarian: апте́ка (bg) f (aptéka), дроге́рия f (drogérija)
• Burmese: ဆေးဆိုင် (my) (hce:hcuing)
• Catalan: farmàcia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 藥店／药店 (joek⁶ dim³), 藥房／药房 (joek⁶ fong⁴), 藥局／药局 (joek⁶ guk^6-2), 藥鋪／药铺 (joek⁶ pou³)

  Mandarin: 藥店／药店 (zh) (yàodiàn), 藥房／药房 (zh) (yàofáng), 藥局／药局 (zh) (yàojú), 藥鋪／药铺 (zh) (yàopù) (usually herbal medicine)

• Chukchi: маԓявэчгыран (maḷjavėčgyran)
• Classical Nahuatl: pahcalli
• Czech: lékárna (cs) f
• Danish: apotek (da) n
• Dutch: apotheek (nl) f
• Esperanto: apoteko (eo)
• Estonian: apteek (et), rohupood
• Farefare: tɩɩm koosgo deo
• Faroese: apotek n
• Finnish: apteekki (fi)
• French: pharmacie (fr) f, officine (fr) f
• Fula:

  Latin: farmasii

  Adlam: 𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤥𞤢𞤧𞤭𞥅‎

• Galician: farmacia (gl) f, botica f
• Georgian: აფთიაქი (aptiaki)
• German: Apotheke (de) f, Drogerie (de) f

  Alemannic German: Abodég f

• Greek: φαρμακείο (el) n (farmakeío)
• Greenlandic: nakorsaataarniarfik
• Gujarati: ફાર્મસી (phārmasī)
• Haitian Creole: fanmasi
• Hebrew: בֵּית מִרְקַחַת‎ (he) m (beyt mirkakhat)
• Hindi: दवाख़ाना m (davāxānā), फ़ार्मेसी f (fārmesī)
• Hungarian: gyógyszertár (hu), patika (hu)
• Icelandic: apótek (is) n, lyfjabúð (is) f
• Indonesian: apotek (id)
• Irish: cógaslann f, siopa poitigéara m
• Italian: farmacia (it) f
• Japanese: 薬局 (ja) (やっきょく, yakkyoku), 薬屋 (ja) (くすりや, kusuriya)
• Kalmyk: эмин саң (emin sañ)
• Kannada: ಔಷಧಾಲಯ (kn) (auṣadhālaya)
• Kazakh: дәріхана (därıxana)
• Khmer: ឱសថស្ថាន (ʼaosaʼthaʼsthaan), ផ្ទះលក់ថ្នាំ (phtĕəh lŭək thnam), ហាងលក់ថ្នាំ (haang lŭək thnam), ហ្វាម៉ាស៊ី (faamaasii), ភេសជ្ជាគារ (pheisacciəkiə)
• Korean: 약국(藥局) (ko) (yakguk), 약방(藥房) (ko) (yakbang)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دەرمانخانە‎ (dermanxane), ئەجزاخانە‎ (eczaxane)

  Northern Kurdish: dermanxane (ku), eczaxane (ku), îlacxane (ku)

• Kyrgyz: аптека (ky) (apteka), дарыкана (ky) (darıkana)
• Lao: ຮ້ານຂາຍຢາ (hān khāi yā), ຮ້ານຂາຽຢາ (hān khāi yā)
• Latvian: aptieka f
• Lithuanian: vaistinė (lt) f
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: apoteek f, apotheek (nds) f

  German Low German: Aptheek (nds) f, Aftheek (nds) f, Apteek (nds) f

• Luxembourgish: Apdikt (lb) f
• Macedonian: апте́ка f (aptéka)
• Malay: farmasi (ms), kedai ubat, rumah ubat, apotek
• Malayalam: ഔഷധാലയം (ml) (auṣadhālayaṁ)
• Maltese: spiżerija
• Maori: whare rongoā
• Marathi: फार्मसी (phārmasī)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эмийн сан (emiin san), эмийн дэлгүүр (emiin delgüür) (China), аптек (aptek)

  Mongolian: ᠡᠮ ᠦᠨ
  ᠰᠠᠩ (äm-ün saŋ), ᠡᠮ ᠦᠨ
  ᠳᠡᠯᠭᠡᠭᠦᠷ (äm-ün dälgägür), ᠠᠫᠲ᠋ᠧᠻ (aptekh)

• Moore: tɩɩm koosg roogo
• Norman: apotiqu'sie f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: apotek (no) n

• Occitan: farmacia (oc) f
• Odia: ଫାର୍ମାସି (pharmasi)
• Ojibwe: mashkikii-adaawewigamig
• Oromo: mana qorichaa
• Pashto: دواخانه‎ (ps) f (dawāxāna), درملتون‎ (ps) m (darmaltun), دوافروش‎ m (dawāfaroš)
• Persian: داروخانِه‎ (fa) (dâruxâne), دَواخانَه‎ (dawāxāna) (Dari)
• Polish: apteka (pl) f
• Portuguese: farmácia (pt) f, drogaria (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਫਾਰਮੇਸੀ (phārmesī)
• Quechua: jampiy ranqhana wasi
• Romanian: farmacie (ro) f
• Russian: апте́ка (ru) f (aptéka)
• Scottish Gaelic: bùth-cungaidheir m, bùth-chungaidhean m, bùth-cheimigeir m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: апоте́ка f, љѐка̄рна f (Croatia)

  Roman: apotéka (sh) f, ljèkārna (sh) f (Croatia)

• Sinhalese: ඔසුහල (osuhala)
• Slovak: lekáreň f
• Slovene: lekarna (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: aptejka f, drogerija f

• Spanish: farmacia (es) f, botica (es) f, droguería (es)
• Swahili: famasia, duka la dawa
• Swedish: apotek (sv)
• Tajik: дорухона (doruxona)
• Tamil: மருந்தகம் (ta) (maruntakam), மருந்துக்கடை (ta) (maruntukkaṭai)
• Tatar: даруханә (daruxanä)
• Telugu: ఫార్మసీ (phārmasī)
• Thai: ร้านขายยา (ráan-kǎai-yaa)
• Tibetan: སྨན་ཚོང་ཁང (sman tshong khang)
• Turkish: eczane (tr)
• Turkmen: daruxanä, dermanhana, apteka
• Ukrainian: апте́ка (uk) f (aptéka)
• Urdu: فارْمیسی‎ f (fārmesī), دَوا خَانَہ‎ m (davā xāna), صَیدَلِیَّہ‎ m (saidaliyya)
• Uyghur: دوراخانا‎ (doraxana), دورىخانا‎ (dorixana), ئاپتېكا‎ (aptëka)
• Uzbek: apteka (uz), dorixona (uz)
• Vietnamese: nhà thuốc, hiệu thuốc, tiệm thuốc
• Walloon: farmaçreye (wa) f, apoticårreye (wa) f (old)
• Welsh: fferyllfa f
• West Frisian: apoteek
• Yiddish: אַפּטייק‎ f (apteyk)

science of medicinal substances

• Afrikaans: farmasie (af), aptekerswese
• Albanian: farmaceutikë (sq) f
• Arabic: صَيْدَلَة‎ f (ṣaydala)
• Armenian: դեղագործություն (hy) (deġagorcutʿyun)
• Asturian: farmacia f
• Azerbaijani: əczaçılıq
• Belarusian: фармацэ́ўтыка f (farmacéŭtyka)
• Bulgarian: фарма́ция f (farmácija)
• Catalan: farmàcia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藥劑學／药剂学 (zh) (yàojìxué)

• Czech: farmacie f, lékárnictví (cs) n
• Danish: farmaci c
• Dutch: farmacie (nl) f
• Estonian: farmaatsia
• Finnish: farmasia (fi)
• French: pharmacie (fr) f
• Galician: farmacia (gl) f
• Georgian: ფარმაცევტიკა (parmacevṭiḳa), ფარმაცია (parmacia)
• German: Pharmazie (de) f
• Greek: φαρμακευτική (el) f (farmakeftikí)
• Hebrew: רוֹקְחוּת‎ (he) f (rokkhút)
• Hungarian: gyógyszerészet (hu), farmakológia (hu)
• Icelandic: lyfjafræði f
• Indonesian: farmasi (id)
• Irish: cógaisíocht f
• Italian: farmacia (it) f
• Japanese: 薬学 (ja) (やくがく, yakugaku), 薬理学 (ja) (やくり​がく, yakurigaku), 薬剤学 (やくざいがく, yakuzaigaku)
• Kazakh: фармацевтика (farmasevtika)
• Korean: 약학(藥學) (ko) (yakhak), 약리학(藥理學) (ko) (yangnihak), 조제학(調劑學) (jojehak), 약제학(藥劑學) (yakjehak)
• Kyrgyz: фармацевтика (farmatsevtika)
• Latvian: farmācija f
• Lithuanian: farmacija f
• Macedonian: фарма́ција f (farmácija)
• Malay: farmaseutik
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эм зүй (em züj)

• Norman: apotiqu'sie f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: farmasi m

  Nynorsk: farmasi m

• Persian: داروسازی‎ (fa) (dârusâzi)
• Polish: farmacja (pl) f, farmaceutyka f
• Portuguese: farmácia (pt) f
• Romanian: farmaceutică f
• Russian: фармаци́я (ru) f (farmacíja), фармаце́втика (ru) f (farmacévtika)
• Rwanda-Rundi:

  Kinyarwanda: farumasi

• Scottish Gaelic: lèigheadaireachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фа̀рма̄ција f

  Roman: fàrmācija (sh) f

• Slovak: farmácia f, lekárnictvo n
• Slovene: farmacija (sl) f
• Spanish: farmacia (es) f
• Swahili: famasia
• Swedish: farmaci (sv) c
• Tajik: дорусозӣ (dorusozī)
• Thai: เภสัชศาสตร์ (pee-sàt-chá-sàat), เภสัชภัณฑ์ (pee-sàt-chá-pan)
• Turkish: eczacılık (tr)
• Turkmen: farmasewtika
• Ukrainian: фармаці́я f (farmacíja), фармаце́втика f (farmacévtyka)
• Uyghur: فارماتسىيە‎ (farmatsiye)
• Uzbek: farmatsevtika (uz)
• Vietnamese: dược khoa, dược học (vi)
• Walloon: farmaçreye (wa) f
• Welsh: fferylliaeth m or f

occupation of a pharmacist

• Afrikaans: apteker (af)
• Arabic: صَيْدَلَة‎ f (ṣaydala)
• Catalan: farmàcia (ca) f
• Estonian: farmatseut, proviisor, apteeker (et)
• Finnish: farmasia (fi)
• Greek: φαρμακοποιία (el) f (farmakopoiía)
• Hebrew: רוֹקֵחַ‎ (he) m (rokeah')
• Indonesian: apoteker (id), farmasis
• Irish: poitigéireacht f
• Italian: farmacista (it) m or f
• Japanese: 薬剤師 (ja) (やくざいし, yakuzaishi)
• Korean: 약제사(藥劑師) (ko) (yakjesa)
• Macedonian: фарма́ција f (farmácija)
• Norman: apotiqu'sie f
• Persian: داروساز‎ (fa) (dârusâz), دکتر داروساز‎ (doktor-e dârusâz)
• Polish: aptekarstwo (pl) n
• Russian: фармаце́втика (ru) f (farmacévtika)

See also

• apothecary
• chemist
• drugstore

Further reading

• “pharmacy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pharmacy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “pharmacy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.