ἐπίπαστος

From ἐπι- (epi-, “on, over”) +‎ παστός (pastós, “sprinkled, strewn”), verbal adjective from πάσσω (pássō, “to sprinkle, strew”).

ἐπίπαστος • (epípastos) m or f (neuter ἐπίπαστον); second declension

1. sprinkled over, strewn upon; having something scattered on the surface
   • Philox., 2 16:

     ἐπίπασται τευθίδες

     epípastai teuthídes

     the cuttlefish are sprinkled over

2. (nominalized, neuter, cooking) a kind of cake or pastry sprinkled with comfits or similar toppings
   • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 103:

     ἐπίπαστον

     epípaston

     a sprinkled cake

   • 424 BCE, Aristophanes, The Knights 1089:

     ἐπίπαστον

     epípaston

     a sprinkled pastry

   • 5th century BC, Pherecrates, 130 3:

     ἐπίπαστον

     epípaston

     a cake with toppings

3. (nominalized, neuter, medicine) (sc. φάρμακον (phármakon)) a powdered medicine applied by sprinkling; a dusting powder
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, On the Humors 5:

     ἐπίπαστον

     epípaston

     a powdered remedy

   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Id. 11.2:

     οὔτ’ ἔγχριστον, ἐμὶν δοκεῖ, οὔτ’ ἐπίπαστον

     oút’ énkhriston, emìn dokeî, oút’ epípaston

     neither an ointment, I think, nor a powder

   • 1 CE – 100 CE, Aretaeus, De Curatione Acutorum Morborum 2.2:

     ἐπίπαστον

     epípaston

     a powdered medication

The adjective ἐπίπαστος (epípastos) denotes surface application by sprinkling or strewing, in contrast with adjectives of rubbing or smearing such as ἐπίχρῑστος (epíkhrīstos) or ἔγχρῑστος (énkhrīstos). It is typically used of dry or granular substances applied loosely rather than worked into a surface.

As a noun, ἐπίπαστον (epípaston) is a substantivized neuter adjective. In medical contexts it commonly stands elliptically for φάρμακον (phármakon), referring to remedies administered by sprinkling rather than rubbing or ingestion. This sense contrasts especially with ἔγχρῑστον (énkhrīston, “ointment”) and ποτόν (potón, “drinkable remedy”).

• ἐπίπασμα (epípasma, “sprinkling, powdered application”)

• “ἐπίπαστος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἐπίπαστος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011