Definition of Officinal

1. a. Used in a shop, or belonging to it.

Definition of Officinal

1. Adjective. Medicinal. ¹

2. Adjective. (obsolete rare) Used in a shop, or belonging to it. ¹

3. Adjective. (obsolete pharmaceutical) Kept in stock by apothecaries; said of such drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special preparation or compounding; not magistral. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Officinal

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Officinal

1. 1. Used in a shop, or belonging to it. 2. Kept in stock by apothecaries; said of such drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special preparation or compounding; not magistral. This term is often interchanged with official, but in strict use officinal drugs are not necessarily official. See Official. Origin: F, fr. L. Officina a workshop, contr.fr. Opificina, fr. Opifex a workman; opus work + facere = to make or do. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Officinal

officials
officialties
officialty
officiant
officiants
officiaries
officiary
officiate
officiated
officiates
officiating
officiation
officiations
officiator
officiators
officinal (current term)
officinals
officious
officiously
officiousness
officiousnesses
offie
offies
offing
offings
offish
offishly
offishness
offishnesses

Literary usage of Officinal

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Treatise on pharmacy by Edward Parrish, Thomas S. Wiegand (1884)
"There are two kinds of wine officinal in the US ... In all the medicated wines which are officinal, sherry wine is directed as the menstruum. ..."

2. The American Botanist edited by Willard Nelson Clute (1917)
"By officinal drugs he means those usually kept in shops which may be used in ... To this list we now add all the common officinal drugs as well as some of ..."

3. Medical lexiconby Robley Dunglison by Robley Dunglison (1851)
"A UNIVERSAL FORMULARY CONTAINING THE METHODS OF PREPARING AND ADMINISTERING officinal AND OTHER MEDICINES, THE WHOLE ADAPTED TO PHYSICIANS AND ..."

4. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1858)
"Dentistry, etc. ; Notices of Climate, and of Mineral Waters ; Formula; for officinal, Empirical, and Dietetic Preparations, etc., with French and other ..."

5. The Retrospect of Practical Medicine and Surgery: Being a Half-yearly edited by William Braithwaite, James Braithwaite, Edmond Fauriel Trevelyan (1876)
"AN officinal MULTIPLE ANTIDOTE. (From Dr. RICHARDSON'S Report on ... This formula is certainly preferable to the officinal hydrate peroxide of iron, ..."

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