officinal

American  

[uh-fis-uh-nl] / əˈfɪs ə nl /

adjective

1. kept in stock by apothecaries, as a drug.

2. recognized by a pharmacopoeia.

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noun

1. an officinal medicine.

officinal British  

/ ɒˈfɪsɪnəl, ˌɒfɪˈsaɪnəl /

adjective

1. (of pharmaceutical products) available without prescription

2. (of a plant) having pharmacological properties

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noun

1. an officinal preparation or plant

Other Word Forms

• nonofficinal
  adjective
• officinally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of officinal

1710–20; < Medieval Latin officīnālis of a store or workshop, equivalent to Latin officīn ( a ) workshop, presumably contraction of opificīna ( opific-, stem of opifex artisan, equivalent to opi-, combining form akin to opus work + -fic-, combining form of facere to make, do ¹ + -īna -ine ¹; cf. office) + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

officinal

The Kutki is another officinal plant with a woody root, and a stem containing many alternate leaves, toothed on the edges, and shaped like a spathula. 

From An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha by Francis Hamilton

Sinapis, si-nā′pis, n. the officinal name of mustard.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

The only officinal preparation, in which this root was an ingredient, was a compound powder; in which form its virtues are very precarious.

From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by William Salisbury

The roots, which are the officinal part, are contorted, knotty and annulated, and about the thickness of a goose quill.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

With their pulp, figs, tamarinds, and senna, the officinal "lenitive electuary" is made; and apothecaries prepare a medicinal tincture from the fresh flower-buds of the Blackthorn.

From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie