The aim of this paper is to discuss the origin of the Polish word farmacja and establish its deep-rooted etymology. The author provides an outline of the history of the word in Polish and presents its direct source, i.e. the Latin word pharmacia, describes the word family in Latin and indicates that the Greek etymon φαρμακεία provided the basis of the Latin form. The analysis of the word family, to which the Greek word belongs, showed a close relationship with semantic fields such as making poison and practising magic. The key expression turned out to be the Greek form φάρμακον, the origin of which remains unclear. Many hypotheses have been proposed, none of which, unfortunately, is satisfactory.