mithridatise

A doctor mithridatises a patient by administering small doses of a substance.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To render tolerant to a poison by gradually increasing the dosage: "mithridatise" means to make someone accustomed to a poison by administering it in small, gradually increasing amounts, thereby building up immunity or tolerance.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The ancient king was said to mithridatise himself daily by taking small doses of various toxins. (To build immunity to poison through gradual exposure.)
  • Doctors sometimes mithridatise patients against snake venom by giving them micro-injections over time. (To induce tolerance to venom.)

Advanced Usage

• "to mithridatise oneself": to intentionally develop immunity to a poison through self-administered gradual doses.

  • He attempted to mithridatise himself against arsenic, but the process proved dangerous. (He tried to build tolerance to arsenic by taking small amounts.)

• "mithridatise against": to develop tolerance specifically against a particular poison.

  • The laboratory aims to mithridatise test subjects against cyanide. (To induce immunity to cyanide.)

Variants and Related Words

• Mithridatism (n): the practice or state of being immune to poison through gradual exposure.

  • Mithridatism was a common practice among ancient rulers who feared assassination. (The method of building poison tolerance.)

• Mithridatic (adj): relating to or producing immunity to poison.

  • The mithridatic properties of the treatment were well documented. (The immunity-inducing qualities.)

Synonyms

• Immunize: to make someone resistant to a disease or poison.
• Inure: to accustom someone to something unpleasant or harmful.
• Harden: to make someone less sensitive or more resistant.

Phrasal Verbs

• Mithridatise against: to build tolerance specifically for a substance.
  • She mithridatised against the plant toxin by taking it in tiny doses. (She developed immunity to the toxin.)

Related Idioms

• "to become a mithridate": to become immune to a poison through gradual exposure (rare, literary).
  • After years of exposure, he became a mithridate to the local snake venom. (He became fully immune.)

Etymology Note

The word "mithridatise" derives from Mithridates VI, King of Pontus (an ancient kingdom in Asia Minor), who reportedly consumed small doses of poison regularly to build immunity against assassination attempts.