gallipot word

English

Etymology

From the use of such words on apothecaries' jars.

Noun

gallipot word (plural gallipot words)

1. (chiefly in the plural) A difficult and obscure word, particularly when used gratuitously to give an appearance of being learned.
   • 1836, Robert Huish, Memoirs of the late William Cobbett, Esq., volume II, London: John Saunders, page 72:

     […] and do they think in good earnest, that this last relic of the mummery of monkery, this playing off upon us of a few gallipot words, will make us believe that they are learned.

See also

• apothecary's Latin
• inkhorn term
• talk like an apothecary

References

• Cobbett’s Political Register, Volume 11 edited by William Cobbett, 1807, page
• [Francis Grose]; Pierce Egan (1823) “Apothecary”, in Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, […], London: […] Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], →OCLC.