officinal
Americanadjective
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kept in stock by apothecaries, as a drug.
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recognized by a pharmacopoeia.
noun
adjective
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(of pharmaceutical products) available without prescription
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(of a plant) having pharmacological properties
noun
Other Word Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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 William Thomas Fernie
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
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
If the diphtheritic pseudo-membrane appear in the nares, the officinal lime-water, injected every hour or second hour, is beneficial in consequence of its solvent action on pseudo-membranes.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
It has also been adopted among physicians as an officinal drug.
From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Mary Elizabeth Parsons
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
