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

June, July.—A well-known officinal anthelmintic, and a showy plant.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Syrup of tar is an officinal medicine in the United States of America for chronic bronchitis, and winter cough.

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

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 Simmonds, P. L.

It has also been adopted among physicians as an officinal drug.

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

A dangerous compound of the latter sort introduced during the first epidemic of cholera in this country became officinal under the name of liniment of cantharides.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various