What does lincture mean?
A lincture is a liquid medicine, particularly one that is oily or viscous and meant to be licked or taken in small amounts. Its distinctive feature is not simply that it is liquid, but that its name reflects an older practice of administering medicine directly with the tongue. The word is now rare and tends to appear in literary, historical, or antiquarian contexts rather than ordinary clinical speech. A lincture should not be confused with a tincture: the latter is generally a medicinal substance prepared in alcohol, including extracts of herbs, bark, or other plant material. In older medical writing, linctures could be swallowed or mixed with water, but the term has largely given way to more precise names for liquid medicines. It remains useful today as a vivid historical term associated with apothecary practice and old-fashioned remedies.
nounA medicinal liquid, especially one with an oily or viscous consistency, intended to be licked or taken in small amounts. The term is now chiefly literary or historical.
- A liquid medicine, especially an oily or viscous one, intended to be licked or taken in small amounts.
"The physician prepared a soothing lincture for the patient."
"The apothecary gave him a lincture to ease his sore throat."
"Her grandmother kept an old bottle of herbal lincture in the medicine cabinet."
The plural is used when referring to different medicinal liquids of this kind.
"The archive contains several linctures and other remedies prepared by nineteenth-century apothecaries."
A lincture was medicine made to be licked: the word preserves the literal idea of taking medicine directly onto the tongue.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lincture come from?
The word comes through Latin from linctura, meaning a medicine intended to be licked. Latin linctura was formed from lingere, "to lick," so the name literally describes both the consistency or handling of the preparation and the intended way of taking it. The word ultimately reflects an ancient Indo-European root associated with licking.
How lincture is actually used
This is a rare, literary, and largely historical term. In modern medical writing, a medicine intended to be swallowed would normally be called a syrup, tincture, or solution, depending on its composition.
Easily confused with lincture
A lincture is a medicinal liquid intended to be licked, whereas a tincture is a medicinal preparation extracted or dissolved in alcohol.