officinal
/ˌɒfɪˈsaɪnəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Kept in stock by apothecaries; said of such drugs and medicines as may be obtained without special preparation or compounding; not magistral.
Obsolete
Example Sentences
- "The leaves are the officinal part;"
- "She was the compound extract of all that was chemically pure and officinal—the dispensary contained nothing equal to her."
- "In this Part of the Town, are also three Convents, seventeen Churches, an Academy, a Printing-House, a Library, the Mint, and the Grand Dispensatory, which last is a very magnificent Building, and the Officinal Furniture is very rich, for the Pots are all of China, and the Glasses Chrystal."
- "Dr. Kaempfer further observes, that the quantity of Varnish obtained from this officinal Anacardium tree is so great, as not only to serve to vernish all the untensils of China, Tonquin, and Japan, but that it is exported in wooden vessels to Batavia, and several other parts of India."
- "Millepora polymorpha: British officinal Coral. […] This is the Coral of the Shops, and is found in great plenty in the seas round these islands, especially near Falmouth, and the Isle of Man."
- "I had always, in my officinal state, been kept in awe by lace and embroidery; and imagined that to fright away these unwelcome familiarities, nothing was necessary, but that I should, by splendour of dress, proclaim my reunion with a higher rank."
Etymology
Usage
Inflected Forms
more officinal (comparative)
most officinal (superlative)