medication
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
All four words relate to substances used for healing, but they differ in scope and connotation. 'Medicine' is the broadest term, covering both the field of healthcare and the substances used in treatment — you study medicine but take medication. 'Medication' is the everyday word for the actual pills, liquids, or creams a patient takes for a specific condition. 'Drug' is broader still and includes recreational substances; calling a medicine a 'drug' can sound clinical or negative. 'Remedy' suggests a traditional or home-based treatment, such as herbal teas or rest, rather than a pharmaceutical product. 'Prescription' is often confused with medication but actually refers to the doctor's written order — 'The doctor wrote a prescription, so I picked up the medication at the pharmacy.' When you need a specific substance for an illness, 'medication' or 'medicine' are the safest, most neutral choices.
Common collocations
Nouns
- medication dosage
- medication schedule
- medication error
- medication side effects
- medication management
Adverbs
- properly medicated
- heavily medicated
- lightly medicated
Phrases
- be on medication
- respond to medication
- adjust medication
- switch medication
Prepositions
- medication for [condition]
- medication with [side effect]
- medication in [form: pill, liquid]
Etymology
'Medication' comes from Latin 'medicatio', meaning 'the act of healing or curing', which in turn comes from 'medicare' ('to heal, cure, treat'). The root goes back to 'medicus' ('doctor, physician'). The word entered English in the 1400s, originally referring to the process of treating with medicine. Over time, the concrete sense — the medicine itself — became the dominant meaning, while the older process sense remains in formal medical writing.