family medicinen.
/ˌfam(ᵻ)lɪ ˈmɛd(ᵻ)s(ᵻ)n/, /ˌfaml̩ɪ ˈmɛd(ᵻ)s(ᵻ)n/, U.S. /ˌfæm(ə)li ˈmɛd(ə)s(ə)n/ 1. Any medicine commonly kept in the home to treat minor ailments or injuries, esp. one available without a doctor's prescription; an over-the-counter medicine. Also: any medical preparation made in the home or according to a family recipe; a home remedy.
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1705 Observator 13 June 2/2 (advt.) Lucatullu's Balsam hath been esteemed an extraordinary Family Medicine, and a Soveraign thing in all Inward Strains, Bruises, &c.
1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 118 A carminative Electuary... It hath been kept as a Family Medicine in a Gentleman's House, and is a notable experimented thing against windy pain in the Stomach.
1743 tr. L. Heister Gen. Syst. Surg. I. i. 234 Many, especially amongst the common People, apply, as a Family Medicine, the Chelidonium majus, first bruising it, and then laying it on as a Cataplasm.
1817 Lit. Gaz. 1 Mar. 87/1 The impropriety of quacking with what are commonly called ‘Family Medicines’, is clearly proved by the circumstance..of a lady taking two tea-spoonfuls of magnesia every night for two years.
1896 W. W. Jacobs Many Cargoes 8 ‘'T ain't a experiment,’ ses the mate very indignant, ‘it's an old family medicine.’
1915 Southern Pharmaceutic Jrnl. Jan. 217/1 If your store is in a family neighborhood, family medicines and toilet articles should be prominently displayed.
1953 E. Colson Makah Indians viii. 261 Paulsen spoke of using her family medicines when she was ill. Specific information..is difficult to obtain, for these herbal medicines are family secrets.
2002 Times 11 Mar. 41/4 Living in a rural area without a..supermarket close by, I tend to buy all my family medicines from the village chemist.
2. Chiefly U.S. The administering of medical treatment to one's own family; the theory or practice of preparing and using home remedies. Cf. family practice n. (b) at family n. and adj. Compounds 2. Now rare.
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1806 W. Keighley (title) A new system of family medicine, for the use of midwives, mothers, and nurses.
1826 W. Buchan Domest. Med. (ed. 22) ii. xxxii. 391 There are many diseases to which the eye is liable.., which it would serve to little purpose to introduce into a work of family medicine.
1892 Bull. West Virginia Agric. Exper. Station No. 23. 280 In family medicine, a tea of this plant [sc. catnip] has a strong hold upon the housewife as a soothing draught for fretful babies.
1942 T. H. Kearney & R. H. Peebles Flowering Plants & Ferns Arizona 997 Mrs. Collom..reported that a decoction of the leaves and flowers of A. lanulosa is used in family medicine in Arizona.
1992 A. McClelland Educ. Women in U.S. i. i. 20 The raising of medicinal herbs and practice of family medicine has traditionally been part of the deliberate instruction of girls.
3. Chiefly North American. The work of a family doctor; (now) spec. the branch of medicine concerned with the provision of primary care to both children and adults. Cf. general practice n. (b) at general adj. and n. Compounds 2.In the United States, family medicine (or family practice) was recognized as a medical specialty in 1969.
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1913 Med. Rec. 13 Sept. 480/2 Family medicine will perpetually have its mission in the world. The family doctor will remain.
1941 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 Mar. 334/1 The general practitioner..understands that to go on practising family medicine two things are necessary.
1951 Rhinelander (Wisconsin) Daily News 26 Nov. 4/3 The American Medical Association is encouraging practice of family medicine and..internships for general practice are increasing rapidly.
2010 M. Cooke et al. Educating Physicians i. 22 Currently, residency training programs in primary care specialties—particularly family medicine and internal medicine—are having great difficulty filling the available positions they offer.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1705