apothecary

/pothkri/

  • noun (pl. apothecaries) archaic a person who prepared and sold medicines.

  — ORIGIN Latin apothecarius from Greek apotheke ‘storehouse’.

Apothecary (IPA: /əˈpɒθɪkəri/ or uh-POTH-ih-kerry) is an historical name for a medical practitioner who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist.

In addition to pharmacy the apothecary also offered general medical advice and a range of services that are now performed solely by other specialist practitioners, such as surgery and midwifery. Apothecaries often operated through a retail shop, which in addition to ingredients for medicines, would also sell tobacco and patent medicines.

In its investigation of herbal and chemical ingredients, the work of the apothecary may be regarded as a precursor of the modern sciences of chemistry and pharmacology, prior to the formulation of the scientific method.

From the 15th century the apothecary gained the status of a skilled practitioner, but by the end of the 19th century the medical professions had taken on their current institutional form, with defined roles for physicians and surgeons, and the role of the apothecary was more narrowly conceived as that of dispensing pharmacist.

In England, the apothecaries merited their own livery company, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, founded in 1617. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain when she passed the Society's examination in 1865.

Apothecaries used the now obsolete apothecaries' measure to provide precise weighing of small quantities.

The word Apothecary is still used in modern times, in Sweden the pharmacies are heavily regulated and driven in a monopoly fashion. These are called Apotek

Noted apothecaries

• Nicholas Culpeper
• Dante Alighieri - non-practising, he entered the Florentine apothecaries guild for political reasons.
• Benedict Arnold
• Nostradamus
• Colonel Blood - the man who attempted to steal the English Crown Jewels, ran an apothecary's shop in Romford, Essex.
• Raeapteek
• John DeRosa
• Silvanus Bevan

apothecary Definition

In most countries an old term for a pharmacist at a time when drugs were crude and mostly derived from plants. In England, apothecaries were general medical practitioners; the Society of Apothecaries was founded by James I in 1617 and gained further powers over the next two centuries. As a licensing body, the examinations it sets are subject to approval by the General Medical Council.

See also

pharmacy

apothecary

noun:   a health professional trained in the art of preparing and dispensing drugs