A medical preparation that is spread on cloth and applied to the skin as a poultice or plaster for healing or soothing purposes.
From Latin emplastrum, borrowed from Greek emplassein (to plaster on). The word entered European medical terminology through medieval Latin texts and describes a foundational treatment method in classical medicine.
Emplastrum is where we get the modern word 'plaster'—and Medieval physicians were obsessed with them, creating elaborate recipes with bizarre ingredients like crushed beetles, mercury, and frog skin, often making patients worse instead of better.
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