vulnerary
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vulnerary
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin vulnerārius, equivalent to vulner- (stem of vulnus ) “a wound” + -ārius adjective suffix; see -ary
Explanation
In the old days, anything described as vulnerary had healing or medicinal properties, like a vulnerary tea you might drink to help your upset stomach. The old-fashioned word vulnerary can be used as a noun or an adjective to describe plants that are used to heal wounds or treat illnesses. Calendula flowers are sometimes used as a vulnerary, applied to the skin to soothe itchy rashes, and so are herbs like calendula, peppermint, and lavender. Vulnerary shares a root with vulnerable, the Latin vulnus, or "wound."
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.
See Examples For:
The urine of unborn babies is an excellent vulnerary.
From Time Magazine Archive
The bark of Ulmus fulva, the slippery or red elm of the United States and Canada, serves the North American Indians for the same purpose, and also as a vulnerary.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various
It is said the hogs in Jamaica when wounded rub the injured part against the tree so as to cover it with the gum, which possesses vulnerary properties; hence its name.
From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William
The Leaves.—These are recommended as aperient and vulnerary, as also in gouty and rheumatic pains.
From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by Salisbury, William
Geoffroy esteems them cephalic, sudorific, vulnerary, anti-maniacal, anti-epileptic, and alexiteral.
From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by Salisbury, William
The Leaves.—They have a subtile subacrid taste, and are recommended as vulneraries, and in asthmas and hectic fevers, and such disorders as are occasioned by drinking cold liquors when the body has been much heated.
From The Botanist's Companion, Volume II by Salisbury, William
Wound′wort, a name applied to several plants of popular repute as vulneraries, as the kidney-vetch, &c.: a plant of genus Stachys, the marsh or clown's woundwort.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
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.
