herbal

American  

[ur-buhl, hur-] / ˈɜr bəl, ˈhɜr- /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or consisting of herbs.

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noun

• herbals
  plural

1. a book about herbs or plants, usually describing their medicinal values.

2. a herbarium.

herbal British  

/ ˈhɜːbəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to herbs, usually culinary or medicinal herbs

2. informal interested or participating in activities relating to esoteric philosophies, traditional remedies, etc

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noun

1. a book describing and listing the properties of plants

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• herbals
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of herbal

First recorded in 1510–20, herbal is from the Medieval Latin word herbālis of, belonging to grass or herbs. See herb, -al ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

herbal herbals

"Our research group has discovered novel bioactive lipids in Japanese dietary fish, herbal teas, and seaweeds," Gowda adds, "helping to shed light on Japan's underexplored lipid-rich food resources."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

Sarti and its accompanying cocktail, the Sarti Spritz, diverge from the citrus-heavy, herbal tastes of Aperol and the company’s namesake Campari with a tropical taste of mango, passion fruit and blood orange.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Gastroenterologist Dr Pedro de Maria Pallares from the Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid, says increasing numbers of patients are coming to him with liver problems caused by herbal supplements.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

Still, he could salvage something, he said, pointing to his son as he fished out boxes of herbal treatments from under the rubble.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

For a while they met in the back rooms of the abandoned part of the house, where Alba handed out walnuts and served them herbal teas while they meditated in a cross-legged position.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

These motifs became more available with the appearance of printed books of botanical studies, or herbals, three of which —- from 1556, 1598 and 1625 — are displayed here.

From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2022

Written in the quaint language of “magick” herbals and illustrated with occult woodcuts, The Poisoner’s Handbook caters to the 1980s’ moral panics about teenage Satan worship.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2015

The NYAG’s investigation of store brands of seven herbals at GNC, Walmart, Walgreens, and Target revealed that the majority of products lacked DNA corresponding to the herbal source.

From Forbes ● Apr. 11, 2015

"There's a lot of enthusiasm for antioxidants and herbals, but no evidence to back it up," said Seupaul.

From Reuters ● Dec. 16, 2011

She had taught him all her lore in herbals and healing, and all she knew of the crafts of finding, binding, mending, unsealing and revealing.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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