† ptarmicn.adj.

Etymology: As noun < French ptarmique substance that causes sneezing (evidently used at a conference in 1641–2 in this sense, in the passage translated in quot. 1665 at sense A.; 1549 in Middle French as ptarmice in sense ‘sneezewort’ (the only current sense in modern French), in a translation of a Latin herbal) and its etymon post-classical Latin ptarmicum substance that causes sneezing (5th cent.) < ancient Greek πταρμικόν , use as noun (short for πταρμικὸν ϕάρμακον ptarmic medicament) of Hellenistic Greek πταρμικός causing to sneeze (although this is apparently first attested later). Compare earlier Ptarmica n. As adjective < post-classical Latin ptarmicus causing to sneeze (c400) < Hellenistic Greek πταρμικός < ancient Greek πταρμός action of sneezing ( < the stem of πτάρνυσθαι to sneeze ( < the same Indo-European base as classical Latin sternuere to sneeze: see sternutation n.) + -μός , suffix forming nouns) + -ικός -ic suffix. N.E.D. (1909) gives the pronunciation as (ptā·ɹmik, tā·ɹmik) /ˈptɑːmɪk/, /ˈtɑːmɪk/.