arsenicophagy

English

Etymology

From 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'.