Letter P

Pill

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In pharmacy, a medicinal substance in a small round or oval mass meant to be swallowed.

Pills often contain a filler and a plastic substance such as lactose that permits the pill to be rolled by hand or machine into the desired form.

The pill may then be coated with a varnishlike substance.

The word pill is a shortened version of the French pilule, a pill.

Originally from the Latin pila, a ball.

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