Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Routes of Administration
Oral
Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples
/ˈɔrəl/adjectiveCore term
In pharmacy & pharmacology, oral means: Taken by mouth and swallowed, so that the medicine is absorbed through the digestive system; the most common route for medicines.
In Turkish: ağızdan, oral
How it is used
Used for the route (oral administration) and for products (oral tablets, oral solution, oral suspension). On prescriptions the route is often written PO, from the Latin 'per os'. With patients, pharmacists usually just say 'by mouth'.
Example sentences
Most patients prefer oral treatment to injections.
The oral solution is easier to give to small children.
Common collocations
oral administration
oral solution
oral suspension
oral dose
oral route
Related terms
route of administrationThe way a medicine enters the body, for example by mouth, through the skin, by injection into a vein or muscle, or by breathing it in.
absorptionThe movement of a drug from the place where it is given, such as the gut or the skin, into the bloodstream.
first-pass metabolismThe breakdown of a swallowed drug in the gut wall and liver before it reaches the general circulation, which lowers the amount that can act in the body.
tabletA solid dosage form made by pressing a powder of the active ingredient and other substances into a small flat or round shape, which is usually swallowed.
