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 officinal root differs in appearance, according to the country from which it is brought.

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

From the roots and leaves of A. napellus, the officinal species, supposed to be native of Britain, is made the powerful drug, aconite.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Mary Elizabeth Parsons

It has rarely been any otherwise made use of in medicine, than as an ingredient in one of the old officinal unguents.

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

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

Some of the plants were once used as a purgative, as in the case of the officinal polyporus, the great puff ball, etc.

From Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. by George Francis Atkinson