alterative

[ awl-tuh-rey-tiv, -ter-uh-tiv ]

/ ˈɔl təˌreɪ tɪv, -tər ə tɪv /

adjective

tending to alter.

Medicine/Medical Obsolete. gradually restoring healthy bodily functions.

noun

Medicine/Medical Obsolete. an alterative remedy.

Nearby words

alter idem, alter., alterable, alterant, alteration, alterative, altercate, altercation, altered chord, altered state of consciousness, altern

Origin of alterative

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word alterātīvus. See alter, -ative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for alterative

The former is an object of penal justice, the latter of condolence joined with alterative discipline.
The Philosophy of Natural Theology|William Jackson
It is thus vaguely called an alterative, since the patient recovers under its use.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6|Various
It is used as a tonic, alterative, and diuretic and was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia for 1890.
Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants|A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding
The alterative medicine, as it is called, had just been renewed, but the bottle containing the opiate was more than half full.
A Sister of the Red Cross|Mrs. L. T. Meade

Its present use is that of an astringent, tonic, and alterative, and also that of an expectorant.
Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants|A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding

British Dictionary definitions for alterative

alterative

/ (ˈɔːltərətɪv) /

adjective

likely or able to produce alteration

obsolete (of a drug) able to restore normal health

noun

obsolete a drug that restores normal health

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012