Pharmacy Vocabulary

Names of items that we can buy at the Pharmacy

PHARMACY (pronounced = ˈfa:rməsi) – Noun.

• a retail shop where medicine and other articles are sold.

• a store where medicinal drugs are dispensed.

• the practice of the preparation of medicinal drugs.

A pharmacy is also known as: a chemist’s shop, an apothecary’s and a drugstore. But remember in the U.K. pharmacies are known as ‘Chemists’

It is quite possible whilst you are in an English speaking country, that you will need to buy something from a Pharmacy (Chemist’s). Most pharmaceutical drugs are originally labelled in Latin, but the companies who manufacture medicines from these drugs, will usually give them brand names. However, if you know the name of a medicine that you have already bought in a pharmacy in your country, the Chemist should be able to find you something similar, just by searching online.

Question: What is the difference between a drug and a medicine?
Answer: A medicine is a substance which is specifically created to prevent or cure an illness / sickness or disease, whilst a drug is any substance other than food, that when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed, absorbed via a patch on the skin or dissolved under the tongue causes a physiological change in the body. (Wikipedia).

Some Useful Phrases