arsenicophagy

English

Etymology

arsenic +‎ -o- +‎ -phagy

Noun

arsenicophagy (uncountable)

  1. The eating of arsenic, formerly practiced for supposed health benefits.
    • 1873, Chandler and Chandler, The American Chemist, page 204:
      M. Ritter adds that in his experiments with men, he never met with the coloring and embonpoint which are said to result from arsenicophagy.
    • 2010, James C. Whorton, The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play, OUP
      She took up arsenicophagy, and in just a few months, 'had become stout, rosy-cheeked, and altogether quite to her lover's satisfaction'.
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