A medicinal plaster, powder, or poultice applied to the skin as a topical treatment.
From Greek 'empasma' (something sprinkled on), from 'empassein' (to sprinkle in or on). This is a variant or related form to empasm, both referring to topical medical applications.
The -ma ending on 'empasma' is typical of medical Greek—notice how 'asthma,' 'trauma,' and 'empasma' all end in -ma, showing how Greek conventions for medical terms created a recognizable family of medical nouns.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.