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Origin and history of paregoric

paregoric(n.)

"medicine that soothes pain," 1704, from adjective (1680s) "assuaging pain, soothing," from Late Latin paregoricus, from Greek paregorikos "soothing, encouraging, consoling," from paregorein "speak soothingly to," from paregoros "consoling," from para- "beside" (see para- (1)) + root of agoreuein "speak in public," from agora "public assembly," from PIE root *ger- "to gather."

also from 1704

Entries linking to paregoric

*ger-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to gather." 

It might form all or part of: aggregate; aggregation; agora; agoraphobia; allegory; category; congregate; cram; egregious; gregarious; panegyric; paregoric; segregate.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit gramah "heap, troop;" Greek ageirein "to assemble," agora "assembly;" Latin grex "flock, herd," gremium "bosom, lap;" Old Church Slavonic grusti "handful," gramota "heap;" Lithuanian gurgulys "chaos, confusion," gurguolė "crowd, mass;" Old English crammian "press something into something else."

para-(1)

before vowels, par-, word-forming element of Greek origin, "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near; issuing from; against, contrary to" (from PIE *prea, from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "toward, near; against").

It is cognate with Old English for- "off, away." Originally in English in Greek-derived words; it has been active in English mostly in scientific and technical words, but until recently was not usually regarded as a naturalized formative element in English.

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