febrifuge

From French fébrifuge, from Latin febris (“fever”) + fugō (“to drive away”). Doublet of feverfew.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛbɹɪfjuːd͡ʒ/
• Hyphenation: feb‧ri‧fuge

febrifuge (plural febrifuges)

1. (pharmacology) Synonym of antipyretic (“a fever-reducing medication”)

   Synonyms: (obsolete) alexipyretic, antifebrile

   • 1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, J. Roberts, page 19:

     ...therein it differs not from the mode of operation, which we observe in the famous peruvian febrifuge.

   • 1919, Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop‎, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, OCLC 57198313, page 20:

     Ah, my boy, you forget the card index! Librarians invented that soothing device for the febrifuge of their souls...

   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1131:

     And, by goodness, the door was ajar into the hall, for Constance had slipped out to the nearest pharmacy in search of a febrifuge for her fever-bound lover.