Discutient

/dɪsˈkjuːʃənt/ adjective

Definition

In medicine, having the quality of dispersing or breaking up solid tumors or abnormal deposits.

Etymology

From Latin discutiens, present participle of discutere (to shake apart). This medical term uses the literal meaning of 'shaking apart' for therapeutic purposes.

Kelly Says

Medieval doctors classified medicines by what they did to the body—heating, cooling, moistening, drying—and discutient medicines were the ones that supposedly could disperse tumors by 'shaking them apart' at a humoral level!

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