aperient

[ uh-peer-ee-uh nt ]
/ əˈpɪər i ənt /
Medicine/Medical
SEE SYNONYMS FOR aperient ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having a mild purgative or laxative effect.

noun

a medicine or food that acts as a mild laxative.

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Also called aperitive.

Origin of aperient

1620–30; < Latin aperient- (stem of aperiēns opening, present participle of aperīre to open), equivalent to aperi- (apparently ap-, variant of ab- ab- + -eri-) + -ent- -ent; the base -eri-, perhaps with an earlier shape *wery- or *twery-, occurs only in this verb and operīre to close (see cover, operculum)

Words nearby aperient

apellous, apeman, apennine mountains, apennines, apepi, aperient, aperiodic, aperistalsis, aperitive, apert's syndrome, apert-crouzon syndrome
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to aperient

purging, purge, laxative, physic, emetic, cathartic, excretory, purgative, evacuant, expulsive, expiatory, purgatorial, aperitive, lustral

Example sentences from the Web for aperient

British Dictionary definitions for aperient

aperient
/ (əˈpɪərɪənt) med /

adjective

laxative

noun

a mild laxative

Word Origin for aperient

C17: from Latin aperīre to open
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