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{{Short description|Former name for a pharmacist}}
{{For|the 2014 film|Apothecary (film)}}
{{hatnote|"Apothecary" may also refer to [[Pharmacy (shop)]], or [[drugstore]] in American English.}}
[[Image:Apothecary15thcentury.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An apothecary in the 15th century]]
'''''Apothecary''''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|p|ɒ|θ|ᵻ|k|ər|i}}) is a mostly archaic term for a [[medicine|medical professional]] who formulates and dispenses ''[[materia medica]]'' (medicine) to [[physician]]s, [[surgeon]]s, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North American English) now perform this role. In some languages and regions, the word "apothecary" is still used to refer to a retail pharmacy or a pharmacist who owns one. Apothecaries' investigation of [[Herbalism|herbal]] and chemical ingredients was a precursor to the modern sciences of [[chemistry]] and [[pharmacology]].<ref name="Awofeso">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PNsHBuhzIwC&pg=PA47|title=Organisational capacity building in health systems|last1=Awofeso|first1=N.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415521796|location=Abingdon, Oxon|page=17|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>

In addition to dispensing herbs and medicine, apothecaries offered general medical advice and a range of services that are now performed by other specialist practitioners, such as [[surgeon]]s and [[Obstetrics and gynaecology|obstetricians]].<ref name="King">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZJeNT1PNx0C&pg=PA80|title=Midwifery, obstetrics and the rise of gynaecology: The uses of a sixteenth-century compendium|last1=King|first1=H.|date=2007|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=9780754653967|location=Aldershot, Hants|page=80|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> Apothecary shops sold ingredients and the medicines they prepared wholesale to other medical practitioners, as well as dispensing them to patients.<ref name="Woolf">{{cite journal|last1=Woolf|first1=J.S.|date=2009|title=Women's business: 17th-century female pharmacists|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/article/women%E2%80%99s-business-17th-century-female-pharmacists|journal=Chemical Heritage Magazine|volume=27|issue=3|pages=20–25|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> In 17th-century England, they also controlled the trade in [[tobacco]] which was imported as a medicine.<ref name="Gately">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x41jVocj05EC&pg=PA51|title=Tobacco: A cultural history of how an exotic plant seduced civilization|last1=Gately|first1=I.|date=2001|publisher=Grove Press|isbn=978-0802139603|location=New York|page=51|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The term "apothecary" derives from the Ancient Greek [[wikt:ἀποθήκη|ἀποθήκη]] (''apothḗkē'', "a repository, storehouse") via Latin ''apotheca'' ("repository, storehouse, warehouse", cf. ''[[:wikt:bodega|bodega]]'' and ''[[:wikt:boutique|boutique]]''), Medieval Latin ''apothecarius'' ("storekeeper"), and eventually Old French ''apotecaire''.<ref>{{OEtymD|apothecary}}</ref>

In some languages the term is used to designate a pharmacist/chemist, such as [[German language|German]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''Apotheker'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vandale.nl/gratis-woordenboek/nederlands/betekenis/Apotheker|title=Apotheker - Van Dale|website=vandale.nl|access-date=2020-12-03}}</ref> [[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''aptiekārs'' and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]] ''Apdikter''.<ref name="Lëtzebuerger">{{cite web|title=Apdikter|url=http://www.lod.lu/|website=Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire|publisher=Ministère de la Culture|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> Likewise, "pharmacy" translates as ''apotek'' in [[Danish language|Danish]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=apotek&tab=for|title=apotek — Den Danske Ordbog|website=ordnet.dk|access-date=2016-05-24}}</ref> [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=apotek&nynorsk=+&ordbok=nynorsk|title=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka|website=ordbok.uib.no|access-date=2019-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=apotek&bokmaal=+&ordbok=bokmaal|title=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka|website=ordbok.uib.no|access-date=2019-09-17}}</ref> and [[Swedish language|Swedish]], ''apteekki'' in [[Finland|Finnish]], ''apoteka'' in [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]], ''aptieka'' in [[Latvian language|Latvian]], апотека (''apoteka'') in [[Serbian language|Serbian]], аптека (''apteka'') in [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], ''Apotheke'' in [[German language|German]] and ''apteka'' in [[Polish language|Polish]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sjp.pwn.pl/sjp/apteka;2441040.html|title=apteka – Słownik języka polskiego PWN|website=sjp.pwn.pl|language=pl|access-date=2019-09-17}}</ref> The word in [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] is ''apoteker'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hasil Pencarian - KBBI Daring|url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/apoteker|website=kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id|access-date=2020-05-19}}</ref> which was borrowed from the Dutch ''apotheker''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apotek#Indonesian|title=apotek - Wiktionary|website=en.wiktionary.org|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> In [[Yiddish]] the word is אַפּטייק ''apteyk''.

Use of the term in the names of businesses varies with time and location. It is generally an Americanism, though some areas of the [[United States]] use it to invoke an experience of nostalgic revival and it has been used for a wide variety of businesses; while in other areas such as California its use is restricted to licensed pharmacies.<ref name="Friedman">{{cite web|url=https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/candlepwr/going-medieval-the-revival-of-apothecary/|title=Going medieval: The revival of "apothecary"|last1=Friedman|first1=N.|date=2014|website=Visual Thesaurus|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Apothicaire.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A 15th-century French apothecary (at right).]]
The profession of apothecary can be dated back at least to 2600 BC to ancient [[Babylon]], which provides one of the earliest records of the practice of the apothecary. Clay tablets have been found with medical texts recording symptoms, prescriptions, and the directions for compounding.<ref name="Allen">{{cite journal|url=https://www.perrigo.com/business/pdfs/Sec%20Artem%2011.3.pdf|title=A history of pharmaceutical compounding|last=Allen|first=L. Jr.|date=2011|volume=11|number=3|work=Secundum Artem|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128014521/https://www.perrigo.com/business/pdfs/Sec%20Artem%2011.3.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-28 |access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref>

In ancient India, the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'', a compendium on the practice of medicine and medical formulations, has been traced back to the 1st century BC.<ref name="Meulenbeld">{{Cite book|last=Meulenbeld|first=G. J|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/872371654|title=A history of Indian medical literature.|date=2000|isbn=90-6980-124-8|volume=IA|location=Groningen|pages=342–344|oclc=872371654}}</ref>

The [[Papyrus Ebers]] from ancient Egypt, written around 1500 BC, contain a collection of more than 800 prescriptions. It lists over 700 different drugs.<ref name="Allen" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=American Botanical Council.|year=1998|title=A pictorial history of herbs in medicine and pharmacy|journal=Herbalgram|issue=42|pages=33–47}}</ref>

The ''[[Shennong Ben Cao Jing|Shen-nung pen ts'ao ching]]'', a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants (3rd century AD),<ref name=":0">Pursell, J. (2015). The herbal apothecary: 100 medicinal herbs and how to use them. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon {{ISBN|978-1604695670}}</ref><ref name="Allen" /><ref name=":1">US National Library of Medicine. “Shen Nung, the Divine Husbandman.” ''[https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/chinesemedicine/emperors.html Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine],'' from the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, an online version of an exhibit held at the NLM, Nationals Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD October 19, 1999-May 30, 2000.</ref> is considered a foundational material for Chinese medicine and herbalism and became an important source for Chinese apothecaries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The herbal apothecary: 100 medicinal herbs and how to use them|last=Pursell|first=J.|publisher=Timber Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1604695670|location=Portland, Oregon|pages=3–14}}</ref> The book, which documented 365 treatments, had a focus on roots and grass. It had treatments which came from minerals, roots and grass, and animals.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Many of the mentioned drugs and their uses are still followed today. Ginseng's use as a sexual stimulant and aid for erectile dysfunction stems from this book.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Illustrated yellow emperor's canon of medicine (Chinese/English Edition)|last=Chuncai|first=Z.|publisher=Dolphin Books|year=2002|isbn=978-7800518171}}</ref> Ma huang, an herb first mentioned in the book, led to the introduction of the drug [[ephedrine]] into modern medicine.<ref name=":0" />

According to Sharif Kaf al-Ghazal,<ref name="Ghazal" /> and S. Hadzovic,<ref name="Hadzovic" /> apothecary shops existed during the [[Middle Ages]] in [[Baghdad]],<ref name="Ghazal">Al-Ghazal, S.K. (2004). [http://www.ishim.net/ishimj/4/02.pdf "The valuable contributions of Al-Razi (Rhazes) in the history of pharmacy during the Middle Ages"], ''Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'', 3(6), pp. 9-11.</ref> operated by [[Medicine in medieval Islam|pharmacists]] in 754 during the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], or [[Islamic Golden Age]].<ref name="Hadzovic">{{Cite journal|last=Hadzović|first=S.|year=1997|title=Pharmacy and the great contribution of Arab-Islamic science to its development|journal=Medicinski Arhiv|language=hr|volume=51|issue=1–2|pages=47–50|issn=0350-199X|oclc=32564530|pmid=9324574}}</ref> Apothecaries were also active in [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]] by the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The history of cartography|last=Harley|first=J.B.|last2=Woodward|first2=D.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-226-31635-2|volume=2|page=28}}</ref>

By the end of the 14th century, [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] (c. 1342–1400) was mentioning an English apothecary in the ''[[Canterbury Tales]]'', specifically "[[The Nun's Priest's Tale]]" as Pertelote speaks to Chauntecleer (lines 181–184):

<blockquote>... and for ye shal nat tarie, 
Though in this toun is noon apothecarie, 
I shal myself to herbes techen yow, 
That shul been for youre hele and for youre prow. 
</blockquote>

In modern English, this can be translated as:

<blockquote>
''... and you should not linger, 
''Though in this town there is no apothecary,'' 
''I shall teach you about herbs myself,'' 
''That will be for your health and for your pride.'' 
</blockquote>

In [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance Italy]], Italian Nuns became a prominent source for medicinal needs. At first they used their knowledge in non-curative uses in the convents to solidify the sanctity of religion among their sisters. As they progressed in skill they started to expand their field to create profit. This profit they used towards their charitable goals. Because of their eventual spread to urban society, these religious women gained "roles of public significance beyond the spiritual realm (Strocchia 627).<ref name="Strocchia">{{cite journal|last1=Strocchia|first1=S.T.|date=2011|title=The nun apothecaries of Renaissance Florence: Marketing medicines in the convent|journal=Renaissance Studies|volume=25|issue=5|pages=627–647|doi=10.1111/j.1477-4658.2011.00721.x}}</ref> Later apothecaries led by nuns were spread across the Italian peninsula.

[[File:Early Italian Pharmacy 17th century fa 2000.001.263.tif|400px|right|thumb|''Early Italian pharmacy'', 17th century. Gift of Fisher Scientific International, [[Science History Institute]], [[Philadelphia]].]]

From the 15th century to the 16th century, the apothecary gained the status of a skilled practitioner. In England, the apothecaries merited their own [[livery company]], the [[Worshipful Society of Apothecaries]], founded in 1617.<ref name="Barrett">{{cite book|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001573490|title=The history of the society of apothecaries of London|last1=Barrett|first1=C.R.B.|date=1905|publisher=E. Stock|location=London|quote=I shall endeavour to trace the history of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, from its incorporation as a separate body on December 6, 1617, down to the present day.}}</ref><ref name="Copeman">{{cite journal|last1=Copeman|first1=W.S.|date=1967|title=The worshipful society of apothecaries of London--1617-1967|journal=Br Med J|volume=4|issue=5578|pages=540–541|doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5578.540|pmc=1749172|pmid=4863972}}</ref> Its roots, however, go back much earlier to the [[Guild of Pepperers]] formed in London in 1180.<ref name="Origins">{{cite web|url=http://www.apothecaries.org/charity/the-archives/our-history|title=Origins|website=The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London|access-date=2016-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111093813/http://www.apothecaries.org/charity/the-archives/our-history|archive-date=2016-11-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Interior of Apothecary's Shop.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Interior of an apothecary's shop. Illustration from ''Illustrated History of Furniture, From the Earliest to the Present Time'' from 1893 by Frederick Litchfield (1850–1930).]]
[[File:Alfred Jacob Miller - The Lady Apothecary - Walters 3725104.jpg|thumb|''The Lady Apothecary'', by [[Alfred Jacob Miller]] (between 1825 and 1870).<ref>{{cite web |publisher= The Walters Art Museum
|url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/11514
|title= The Lady Apothecary}}</ref> [[Walters Art Museum]], [[Baltimore]].]]

However, there were ongoing tensions between apothecaries and other medical professions, as is illustrated by the publication of 'A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries' by the Physician [[Christopher Merret]]t in 1669<ref>{{Cite web|last=Merrett|first=Christopher|date=1669|title=A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15910/15910-h/15910-h.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Project Gutenberg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524155029/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15910/15910-h/15910-h.htm |archive-date=2006-05-24 }}</ref> and the experiences of [[Susan Reeve Lyon]] and other women apothecaries in 17th century London.<ref name="Woolf"/> Often women (who were prohibited from entering medical school) became apothecaries which took away business from male physicians.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 3174557|title = Women's Medical Practice and Health Care in Medieval Europe|journal = Signs|volume = 14|issue = 2|pages = 434–473|last1 = Green|first1 = Monica|year = 1989|doi = 10.1086/494516}}</ref> In 1865 [[Elizabeth Garrett Anderson]] became the first woman to be licensed to practice medicine in Britain by passing the examination of the Society of Apothecaries.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal|last1=Porrirr|first1=A.G.|date=1919|title=Reviewed work: The life of Sophia Jex-Blake, by Margaret Todd|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=34|issue=1|page=180|jstor=2141537}}</ref> By the end of the 19th century, the medical professions had taken on their current institutional form, with defined roles for physicians and surgeons, and the role of the apothecary was more narrowly conceived, as that of pharmacist (dispensing chemist in British English).<ref name="Liaw">{{cite journal|last1=Liaw|first1=S.T.|last2=Peterson|first2=G.|date=2009|title=Doctor and pharmacist - back to the apothecary!|journal=Australian Health Review |volume=33|issue=2|pages=268–78|doi=10.1071/ah090268|pmid=19563315|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In German-speaking countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, pharmacies or chemist stores are still called apothecaries or in German ''Apotheken''. The ''Apotheke'' ("store") is legally obligated to be run at all times by at least one ''Apotheker'' (male) or ''Apothekerin'' (female), who actually has an academic degree as a pharmacist – in German ''Pharmazeut'' (male) or ''Pharmazeutin'' (female) – and has obtained the professional title ''Apotheker'' by either working in the field for numerous years, usually by working in a pharmacy store, or taking additional exams. Thus a ''Pharmazeut'' is not always an ''Apotheker''.<ref name="Journey">{{cite web|title=German Pharmacy, Apotheke, vs Drogerie|url=http://www.journey-to-germany.com/german-pharmacy.html|website=Journey to Germany|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220123418/http://www.journey-to-germany.com/german-pharmacy.html|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Magdalena Neff]] became the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Germany when she studied pharmacy at the [[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology|Technical University of Karlsruhe]] and later passed the apothecary's examination in 1906.<ref name="Beisswanger">{{cite book|title=Frauen in der Pharmazie: Die Geschichte eines Frauenberufs|last1=Beisswanger|first1=G.|last2=Hahn|first2=G.|last3=Seibert|first3=E.|last4=Szász|first4=I.|last5=Trischler|first5=C.|date=2001|publisher=Deutscher Apotheker Verlag|location=Stuttgart}}</ref>

Apothecaries used their own measurement system, the [[apothecaries' system]], to provide precise weighing of small quantities.<ref name="Cazalet">{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/weight/|title=Tables of weights and measures. Apothecaries' weight|last1=Cazalet|first1=S.|date=2001|website=HOMÉOPATHE INTERNATIONAL}}</ref> Apothecaries dispensed vials of poisons as well as medicines, and as is still the case, medicines could be either beneficial or harmful if inappropriately used. Protective methods to prevent accidental ingestion of poisons included the use of specially-shaped containers for potentially poisonous substances such as [[laudanum]].<ref name="Griffenhagen">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4N9bsxc2LYC&pg=PA35|title=History of drug containers and their labels|last1=Griffenhagen|first1=G.|last2=Bogard|first2=M.|date=1999|publisher=American Institute of the History of Pharmacy|isbn=978-0931292262|location=Madison, Wisconsin|page=35|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>

=== Apothecary work as gateway to women as healers ===

{{more citations needed section|date=February 2021}}

Apothecary businesses were typically family-run, and wives or other women of the family worked alongside their husbands in the shops, learning the trade themselves. Women were still not allowed to train and be educated in universities so this allowed them a chance to be trained in medical knowledge and healing. Previously, women had some influence in other women's healthcare, such as serving as [[midwife|midwives]] and other feminine care in a setting that was not considered appropriate for males. Though physicians gave medical advice, they did not make medicine, so they typically sent their patients to particular independent apothecaries, who did also provide some medical advice, in particular remedies and healing.

==Methods==

=== Recipes ===
Many recipes for medicines included herbs, minerals, and pieces of animals (meats, fats, skins) that were ingested, made into paste for external use, or used as aromatherapy. Some of these are similar to natural remedies used today, including [[catnip]],<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNqilBFdfJ4C&pg=PA166|title=Drugs and pharmacy in the life of Georgia, 1733-1959|last1=Wilson|first1=R.C.|date=2010|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0820335568|location=Athens, Georgia|page=166|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> [[chamomile]], [[fennel]], [[Lamiaceae|mint]], [[garlic]], and [[witch hazel (astringent)|witch hazel]].<ref name="Hatfield">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/medicinalplantsi00davi|title=Medicinal plants in folk tradition: An ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland|last1=Allen|first1=D.E.|last2=Hatfield|first2=G.|date=2004|publisher=Timber Press|isbn=9780881926385|location=Portland (Or.) [etc.]|url-access=registration}}</ref> Many other ingredients used in the past such as urine, fecal matter, earwax, human fat, and saliva, are no longer used and are generally considered ineffective or unsanitary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://writingren.blogspot.com/2008/06/remedies-and-recipes.html|title=Remedies and recipes|last1=Douglas|first1=J.|date=2008|website=Writing the Renaissance|access-date=3 November 2014}}</ref> Trial and error were the main source for finding successful remedies, as little was known about the chemistry of why certain treatments worked. For instance, it was known that drinking coffee could help cure headaches, but the existence and properties of caffeine itself was still a mystery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.org/Foundation/magazine/Spring17/apothecaries.cfm|title=A Dose of Expertise|last=Trifone|first=N.|date=2017|access-date=8 October 2017}}</ref>

==Noted apothecaries==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Hildegard of Bingen]]
* [[Paracelsus]]
* [[James Parkinson]]
* [[Silvanus Bevan]]
* [[Hendrik Claudius]]
* [[Émile Coué]]
* [[Nicholas Culpeper]]
* [[John Keats]]
* [[Nostradamus]]
* [[John Parkinson (botanist)|John Parkinson]]
* [[Joseph Proust]]
* [[Nicholas Hughes]]
* [[Shennong|Shen Nung]]
* [[Fanny Allen]]
* [[Tomé Pires]]
{{div end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Medical}}
* [[Alchemy]]
* [[Compounding]]
* [[Herb garden]]
* [[Herbalism]]
** [[Traditional Chinese medicine]]
* [[History of pharmacy]]
* [[Pharmacist]]
* [[Theriac]]
* [[Worshipful Society of Apothecaries]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2838 "On Keeping Shop: A Guidebook for Preparing Orders"] is a book, in Arabic, from 1260 that extensively discusses the art of being an apothecary

{{wiktionary}}
{{二次利用|date=1 January 2023}}
[[Category:History of pharmacy]]
[[Category:Traditional healthcare occupations]]

Apothecary - Revision history