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alterative

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

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adjective

tending to alter.

Medicine/Medical Obsolete. gradually restoring healthy bodily functions.

noun

Medicine/Medical Obsolete. an alterative remedy.

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

Historical Examples of alterative

I determined to try the poison of jealousy, by way of an alterative.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
In India it is used for the piles and as an alterative for bilious disorders.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines
T. H. Pardo de Tavera
Does the skin undergo any alterative or destructive changes?
Essentials of Diseases of the Skin
Henry Weightman Stelwagon
The alterative medicine was to be given in tablespoonfuls—two tablespoonfuls to a dose.
A Sister of the Red Cross
Mrs. L. T. Meade
Others have employed it as an alterative and tonic with variable success.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for alterative

alterative

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