The act of rubbing or friction-based application; in medieval medicine, the therapeutic process of vigorous rubbing with medicinal substances.
From Medieval Latin 'confricatio,' derived from 'confricare' (to rub together). The suffix '-tion' converts the action into a noun, used in medical and alchemical texts.
Medieval medical theory was obsessed with 'confrication'—they thought friction heat would open pores and let healing substances penetrate, which is hilarious because they were accidentally right about the permeability increase from friction.
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