Definition

Noun: * A retail establishment, historically and formally, where medicinal drugs are prepared, dispensed, and sold. It is a traditional term for a pharmacy or drugstore, often implying a shop where a pharmacist (apothecary) compounds medicines.

Usage

This term is used to refer specifically to a place of business for a pharmacist. It is a somewhat archaic or formal term in modern English, often evoking a historical or traditional setting.

Examples

• Noun:
  • In the 18th century, you would buy remedies from the local apothecary's shop.
  • The novel's character worked in an apothecary's shop, mixing herbs and tinctures.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used figuratively to describe a place that seems to contain a wide assortment of items, similar to how old apothecary shops had many jars and bottles.
  • Her kitchen was like an apothecary's shop, filled with exotic spices and obscure ingredients.

Variants and Related Words

• Apothecary (noun): The person who owns or works in an apothecary's shop; a pharmacist.
• Pharmacy (noun): The modern, more common term for a place where medicinal drugs are prepared and sold.
• Drugstore (noun): A common term, especially in American English, for a retail shop selling medicines and often other goods.

Synonyms

• Pharmacy
• Chemist's (chiefly British English)
• Drugstore

Related Idioms

• An Aladdin's cave/apothecary's shop of [something]: An idiom used to describe a place filled with a fascinating variety of particular items. This usage highlights the old-fashioned, abundant, and sometimes mysterious nature associated with traditional apothecary shops.
  • The old bookstore was an apothecary's shop of forgotten knowledge.

Noun

1. a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold