Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "nostrum" come from? It comes from Latin nostrum, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "nostrum" come from? It comes from Latin nostrum, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).
Nostrum’s story begins in Latin: nostrum meant “our own.” 'our own', neuter of 'noster', ours. It reached English by 1600s as nostrum. Quack doctors sold remedies of 'our own' secret making; by the 1700s it meant any pet cure-all or scheme. Today, nostrum means a quack medicine; a pet scheme for solving a problem.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient nostrum "our own", 'our own', neuter of 'noster', ours.
- Stage 2 · English · 1600s nostrum "quack remedy", quack doctors sold remedies of 'our own' secret making; by the 1700s it meant any pet cure-all or scheme.