officinal
- kept in stock by apothecaries, as a drug.Compare magistral(def 1).
- recognized by a pharmacopoeia.
- an officinal medicine.
Origin of officinal
Examples from the Web for officinal
Historical Examples of officinal
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
- an officinal preparation or plant
Word Origin for officinal
Word Origin and History for officinal
"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.
officinal
(ə-fĭs′ə-nəl, ŏf′ĭ-sī′nəl)- Readily available in pharmacies; not requiring special preparation.
- Recognized by a pharmacopoeia.
- An official drug.