An archaic term for pharmacy or the practice of medicine through the use of drugs or medicinal preparations.
From Old French 'farmacia' and Medieval Latin 'pharmacia,' derived ultimately from Greek 'pharmakon' (drug, poison). The 'f' shows Norman French influence on English medical terminology.
When medieval English borrowed 'fermacy' from French, they were borrowing a whole new concept of organized medicine—the word signals the moment when healing moved from folk wisdom to something more systematized.
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