vulnerary
Americanadjective
noun
-
vulneraries
plural
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
We afterward learned that this gum was produced by the apple tree, and our surgeon procured some of it, and used it as a vulnerary balsam with great success.
In old times the Water figwort was famous as a vulnerary, both when used externally, and when taken in decoction.
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie
Each of these was applied as a vulnerary, not to sloughing sores, but to fresh cut wounds.
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie
Agrimony was at one time included in the London Materia Medica as a vulnerary herb.
From Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie
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
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 William Salisbury
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