The DICT Development Group

  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]

  nostrum
      n 1: hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought
           by the alchemists [syn: panacea, nostrum, catholicon,
           cure-all]
      2: patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable