officinal
[uh-fis-uh-nl]
- kept in stock by apothecaries, as a drug.Compare magistral(def 1).
- recognized by a pharmacopoeia.
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- an officinal medicine.
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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, do1 + -īna -ine1; cf. office) + -ālis -al1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for officinal
Historical Examples
It is officinal in Germany, and there must contain at least 50 per cent.
Poisons: Their Effects and DetectionAlexander Wynter Blyth
(1⁄200 grain) of the salt are officinal, and used by ophthalmic surgeons.
Poisons: Their Effects and DetectionAlexander Wynter Blyth
Both plants contain in the bark of their roots the same red dye as the officinal roots of the Alcanna tinctoria.
The root is quite the same as that of the officinal Radix senegæ.
The leaves of the uncultivated Digitalis purpurea, or purple foxglove, are officinal in our pharmacopias.
officinal
- (of pharmaceutical products) available without prescription
- (of a plant) having pharmacological properties
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- an officinal preparation or plant
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Word Origin
C17: from Medieval Latin officīnālis, from Latin officīna workshop; see office
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for officinal
adj.
"kept in stock by a druggist," c.1720, from French officinal, from Medieval Latin officinalis, literally "of or belonging in an officina," a storeroom (of a monastery) for medicines and necessaries, in classical Latin "workshop, manufactory, laboratory," contraction of *opificina, from opifex (genitive opificis) "worker, workman, maker, doer" (from opus "work;" see opus) + -fex, -ficis "one who does," from facere "do, perform" (see factitious). Related: Officinally.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
officinal
(ə-fĭs′ə-nəl, ŏf′ĭ-sī′nəl)- Readily available in pharmacies; not requiring special preparation.
- Recognized by a pharmacopoeia.
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- An official drug.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.