Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context British English) A medicine that is protected by a patent. 2 (context US English) Any medicine with a proprietary formula which can be bought without a prescription, irrespective of whether it is protected by a patent.
WordNet
n. medicine that is protected by a patent and available without a doctor's prescription
Wikipedia
A patent medicine, also known as a nostrum (from the Latin nostrum remedium, or "our remedy") is a commercial product advertised (usually heavily) as a purported over-the-counter medicine, without regard to its effectiveness.
Patent medicines were one of the first major product categories that the advertising industry promoted; patent medicine promoters pioneered many advertising and sales techniques later used for other products. Patent medicine advertising often marketed products as being medical panaceas (or at least a treatment for a large number of diseases) and emphasized exotic ingredients and endorsements from purported experts or celebrities, which may or may have not been true. Patent medicines were increasingly constricted in the United States in the early 20th century as the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission added ever-increasing regulations to prevent fraud, unintentional poisoning and deceptive advertising. Sellers of liniments claimed to contain snake oil and falsely promoted as a cure-all – made the snake oil salesman a lasting symbol for a charlatan.
Usage examples of "patent medicine".
You ought to know that if I throw my time and abilities into a patent medicine, it's a patent medicine whose field of operations is the solid earth!
Arrayed before her were numerous vials of some viscous-looking substance Sybil took to be a patent medicine, for each was pasted with a blue slip of paper bearing the blurred image of a savage red Indian.
Arrayed before her were numerous vials of some viscouslooking substance Sybil took to be a patent medicine, for each was pasted with a blue slip of paper bearing the blurred image of a savage red Indian.
Sarsaparilla apparently made its debut as a patent medicine, an easy-to-take form of sassafras, much as Cocoa-Cola was first marketed in 1885 as a remedy for hangovers and headaches.
The joint had taken its name from a patent medicine that advertised in dive toilets, prom.