herbal
Americanadjective
noun
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a book about herbs or plants, usually describing their medicinal values.
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a herbarium.
adjective
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of or relating to herbs, usually culinary or medicinal herbs
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informal interested or participating in activities relating to esoteric philosophies, traditional remedies, etc
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of herbal
First recorded in 1510–20, herbal is from the Medieval Latin word herbālis of, belonging to grass or herbs. See herb, -al 1
Vocabulary lists containing herbal
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Research in the US suggests that 20% of all cases of liver damage are caused by a mixture of herbal and dietary supplements.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Still, he could salvage something, he said, pointing to his son as he fished out boxes of herbal treatments from under the rubble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
That’s why I find myself reaching for them whenever a dish needs a little herbal brightness without requiring me to rummage through half the spice cabinet.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
The researchers examined a wide range of sources, including laboratory experiments, clinical observations, and historical herbal writings.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2026
This held tea—not true tea, which they’d run out of long ago, but an herbal infusion to help shake off the lull—and biscuits, since Sarai always slept through lunch.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Recently, Asch has been incorporating local herbals with healing and aromatherapeutic properties, such as flowering basil and ashwagandha roots, into her exotic compositions.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2020
Written in the quaint language of “magick” herbals and illustrated with occult woodcuts, The Poisoner’s Handbook caters to the 1980s’ moral panics about teenage Satan worship.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2015
The NYAG’s investigation of store brands of seven herbals at GNC, Walmart, Walgreens, and Target revealed that the majority of products lacked DNA corresponding to the herbal source.
From Forbes ● Apr. 11, 2015
"There's a lot of enthusiasm for antioxidants and herbals, but no evidence to back it up," said Seupaul.
From Reuters ● Dec. 16, 2011
She had taught him all her lore in herbals and healing, and all she knew of the crafts of finding, binding, mending, unsealing and revealing.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
