A poisonous powder that was historically used in medicine, made from arsenic compounds.
From Arabic al-garoot, derived from Arabic 'al-' (the) combined with Persian roots. The term traveled through medieval medical texts and entered European languages as physicians translated Arabic medical treatises.
Medieval doctors thought algarot could cure diseases—they literally prescribed poison! It's a reminder that 'medicine' and 'poison' are sometimes just different doses of the same thing, and that doctors haven't always known what we do now.
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