In medieval medicine or alchemy, a substance meant to be rubbed on the skin; a friction-applied medicinal preparation.
From Medieval Latin 'confricamentum,' derived from the verb 'confricare' (to rub together or friction). The suffix '-mentum' indicates an instrument or result of an action.
Medieval doctors genuinely believed that rubbing things on skin was a scientific process—'confricamentum' could mean anything from mercury paste for syphilis to crushed beetle wings for baldness.
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