hiera picra

English

Alternative forms

• hickery-pickery, hickory-pickery, higry-pigry

Etymology

From New Latin hiera picra, from Ancient Greek ἱερᾱ́ πίκρᾱ (hierā́ píkrā, literally “sacred bitterness”).

Noun

hiera picra (uncountable)

1. (pharmacology, now historical) A warming cathartic medicine made from aloes and canella.
   • 1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 77:

     His hiera picra formula called for aloes, spices and herbs; the compound was made into an electuary.