apothecaries

plural of apothecary
1
as in pharmacists
a person who prepares drugs according to a doctor's prescription in olden days the apothecary had few drugs that actually cured anything, most substances being little more than pain relievers

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2
as in pharmacies
a retail store where medicines and miscellaneous articles are sold the historic village boasts an old-fashioned apothecary that's been there for almost a century and a half

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of apothecaries There were few professional doctors, so healthcare came from midwives, bonesetters who also cut hair and removed cataracts, ministers, and community members, including apothecaries and plantation root doctors who were knowledgeable about plants. Katherine Ott, The Conversation, 2 July 2026 Eventually, hard candies were made from the plant and carried in many apothecaries and general stores. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 23 June 2026 Belif is predominantly a skin care brand, inspired by 19th-century apothecaries and their herbal medicines, mixed with modern scientific Korean beauty theory. Bestreviews, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026 In densely populated neighborhoods of flimsy wooden houses, charcoal braziers tumbled over, fuel tanks ruptured, combustible chemicals in apothecaries exploded, and high winds fanned the flames through alleys. Joshua Hammer, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026 For decades after the nation’s founding, doctors had competition from homeopaths, herbalists, apothecaries, midwives, and religious healers—not to mention mothers. Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apothecaries
Noun
  • Walmart has 15,000 pharmacists, roughly half of whom have been with the company for more than a decade, Host said.
    Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 1 July 2026
  • Legislators in at least a dozen states passed laws this year to limit compensation to the companies, set minimum payments from the companies to pharmacists and require the companies to disclose more information to their clients, states and the public.
    John Hanna, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026
Noun
  • Even in normal times, most patients are required to purchase their own medical supplies at pharmacies and shops near the hospital.
    Durrie Bouscaren, NPR, 8 July 2026
  • The Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meets July 23-24 to consider restoring certain peptides to the list of substances eligible for compounding by licensed 503A pharmacies, with a follow-up meeting to be held before February 2027.
    Jerome Adams, STAT, 6 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Apothecaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apothecaries. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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