the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs
2.
the drugs used in the treatment of disease
Word origin
C17: from Medieval Latin: medical matter
materia medica in American English
(məˈtɪriə ˈmɛdɪkə)
1.
the drugs and other remedial substances used in medicine
2.
the branch of medical science that deals with such substances, their uses, etc.
Word origin
ML < L materia, matter + medica, fem. of medicus, medical