Officinal is a word applied in medicine to plants and herbs that are used in medicinal preparations. For most of the 19th century, it was the standard word used by the United States …

The word officinalis literally means 'of or belonging to an officīna', the storeroom of a monastery, where medicines and other necessaries were kept. [1] Officīna was a contraction of opificīna, from opifex (gen. opificis) 'worker, maker, doer' (from opus 'work') + -fex, -ficis, 'one who does', from facere 'do, perform'. [2] When Linnaeus invented the binomial system of nomenclature, he ...

Officinal drugs, plants and herbs are those which are sold in a chemist or druggist shop. Officinal medical preparations of such drugs are made in accordance with the prescriptions authorized by a pharmacopoeia. Officinal is not related to the word official.

What does the word officinal mean? There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the word officinal , two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

In the latter sense, modern usage tends to supersede "officinal" by "official." In former times large quantities of it were imported in a dry state into Europe for officinal purposes, the drug having the reputation of being efficacious in diseases of the skin and lungs; and even now it may be found in apothecaries' shops in the south of Europe ...

3 meanings: 1. (of pharmaceutical products) available without prescription 2. (of a plant) having pharmacological properties 3..... Click for more definitions.

Origin of officinal 1 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, …

Definition of 'officinal' COBUILD frequency band. officinal in American English (əˈfɪsɪnəl) adjective. 1. Obsolete. commonly kept in stock in a pharmacy. said of products or drugs dispensed without prescription. noun. 2. Obsolete. an officinal drug or preparation.

Define officinal. officinal synonyms, officinal pronunciation, officinal translation, English dictionary definition of officinal. adj. 1. Readily available in pharmacies; not requiring special preparation. 2. Recognized by a pharmacopoeia: an officinal herb. of·fic′i·nal·ly adv....

She was the compound extract of all that was chemically pure and officinal—the dispensary contained nothing equal to her. ( obsolete , rare ) Used in a shop , or belonging to it. 1738 , Philipp Johann von Strahlenberg, An Historico-geographical Description of the North and Eastern Parts of Europe and Asia , page 425 :