'Nostrum' definitions:

Definition of 'nostrum'

noun

Hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists [syn: panacea, nostrum, catholicon, cure-all]

noun

Patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable

From: GCIDE

Nostrum \Nos"trum\ (-tr[u^]m), n.; pl. Nostrums (-tr[u^]mz). [Neut. sing. of L. noster ours, fr. nos we. See Us.] [1913 Webster]
1. A medicine, the ingredients of which are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor; a quack medicine. [1913 Webster]
2. Any scheme or device proposed by a quack. [1913 Webster]
The incentives of agitators, the arts of impostors and the nostrums of quacks. --Brougham. [1913 Webster]
3. Any scheme asserted to solve a problem, but with no objective basis for belief in its effectiveness; esp., in politics, a scheme or proposal likely to prove popular with voters. [PJC]